


The Play's The Thing...Sequel to Breaking Point.

by Dextrousleftie



Category: Kyou Kara Maou!
Genre: Anal Sex, Fluff and Angst, Gay Sex, Hurt, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Oral Sex, Romance, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-06-01 03:29:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 46,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6499045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dextrousleftie/pseuds/Dextrousleftie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yozak has a cunning plan to help both himself and Wolfram finally get what...or who...they want!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Wish I had time to build a sand castle,” Yuri’s voice was wistful. His eyes looked yearningly at the long stretch of empty white beach. This coastline was in human territory, and soon he and his fellow travelers would start a journey inland to begin looking for yet another Maou's artifact.

In this case it was a ring that bore the seal of one of the former Maous. It was said that the ring had unusual powers, much like the sword and the flute that they’d already collected. Frankly Yuri wasn’t sure how impressed he was about these artifacts, especially Morgif. The thing was just too weird. And as a weapon it wasn’t much. He’d have much rather have had a real magic sword, something fit for a hero. 

He turned his head at the sound of retching. Wolfram was on his hands and knees nearby, emptying what was left in his stomach. Not that there should be much, since he’d thrown up three times over the side of his mother’s yacht. Cheri-sama had been kind enough to give them a lift on one of her eternal voyages in search of love. She’d even promised to return to pick them up again in a few weeks. If she remembered, that was. Yuri was glad that he didn’t suffer from seasickness. He always felt sorry for Wolfram, who spent every journey by water leaning over the railing heaving up his guts. 

Yuri himself was sitting on a piece of driftwood. Konrad had just finished putting in the contacts that the Maou always wore when he traveled through human lands. He hated the things; they always made his eyes burn. He tried not to rub his eyes, as that usually made it worse. Maybe he should get a pair of sunglasses custom-made so that he could wear those instead of these stupid contacts. He’d have to ask Konrad if there was anyone in Shin Makoku who could make them for him. 

“Where’s Yozak gone?” he asked Konrad. 

The soldier pointed to the left where the beach rose into a series of sand dunes. There was a sort of sandy cliff, that was reached by a narrow track at the near end of the dunes. At the top of this bluff, he caught a glimpse of orange as the sun flashed off of Yozak’s hair. “Why’d he go up there?” Yuri asked Konrad.

“Most likely he’s scouting out the area, Heika,” Konrad replied. “He can get a much better view of the lay of the land from up there.”

 

“I suppose,” Yuri conceded doubtfully. “Should we go up there too?”

Konrad shook his head. "There’s no need, Heika. Yozak will report back to us soon enough.”

“Okay,” Yuri stretched out his legs. He hadn’t wanted to make the rather toiling climb to the top of the bluff anyway. Maybe there was time to make just a little sand castle, he thought…

 

Yozak Grie sat upon a boulder and stared out at the restless sea. His face was emotionless, now that there was no one about to put on an act for. While it was true that Yozak tried not to worry about much, and was generally a happy-go-lucky sort, he often wore a mask to conceal what he was really feeling and thinking. It was a mask so good that no one had ever seen through it, not even his best friend Konrad Weller. Everyone thought of him as simple, good-natured Yozak - the cheerful, careless and sometimes foolish man that was all that the orange-haired man ever showed to the world.

If anyone could have glimpsed Yozak’s true nature, they might have been astonished. Inside, he was ruthlessly practical to the point of cold-bloodedness. The spy could -and had - killed without turning a hair, and had felt no remorse in the doing or the aftermath. Yozak didn’t concern himself with morality. Morality was for the tender-hearted folk like Konrad and Yuri. People like Yozak were the ones who guarded that fragile innocence, allowing such people to retain their sweet and caring natures. While he wasn’t a true sociopath, because he felt emotions very deeply, Yozak sometimes walked the line of being one. 

Part of it, he knew, was his ferocious will to survive, and to protect those he cared for. He would do anything that he had to to live and guard the safety of the few people who had his heart. That will had been forged in the concentration camp/village that he and his mother had been confined to in Big Shimaron. He’d watched people die around him, and had finally seen his mother fall to starvation and despair. Instead of breaking him, this experience had tempered him into a dangerous weapon. It had scoured many of the softer emotions from him, like compassion and pity and tenderness. Over time he had regained the ability to feel these emotions somewhat, but he would never be like Yuri was. Nor did he want to be. The Maou was a good lad, but dangerously naïve and innocent. Someone had to watch out for him in a way that the kind-hearted Konrad could not. Yozak intended to be that person.

Yozak turned his eyes from the sea, and glanced down at the three figures moving around on the sand of the beach below him. Poor Wolfram was still being sick, Yuri was sitting on a bit of driftwood, and Konrad was standing next to him. Always the good guard dog. Some people might have thought this with cynicism, but not Yozak. He respected those who guarded others because it was what he himself did. It was one of the many things that he respected about Konrad. The only man that he’d ever called ‘Commander’ was one of the few people who had Yozak’s respect. He seldom gave it, because the world was full of fools who definitely didn’t deserve it.

One corner of Yozak’s mouth crooked up wryly. The man he called friend, the man he’d followed ever since they were children together…and the man he had loved whole-heartedly since he was all of fifteen years old. That was Konrad Weller. Warm-hearted, loving, and tender. Upright and serious and driven by duty. And probably one of the blindest men who’d ever lived, Yozak thought in exasperation. Followed only by the Maou. Konrad was always so focused that he couldn’t see what was right before him - and most likely he never would. That was something that Yozak’s practical nature accepted without self-pity. It was just the way things were.

Some might have asked Yozak why he didn’t just try to woo Konrad. This was a question that would have provoked a bout of cynical laughter from the soldier/spy. There were several major reasons why Yozak knew that there was no point in trying to pursue Konrad. One was the difference in their backgrounds. He, Yozak, was nothing. His father, while he had been a Mazoku, hadn’t belonged to any of the noble families. And his mother had been a poor human villager. Konrad might be a half-breed like Yozak, but there the resemblance ended. His mother was a former Maou, and one of the most powerful magic-users in the kingdom. His father, Dan Hiri Weller, had been a great and respected human knight from a proud family. The difference in their social statuses was so great that there might as well have been a chasm between them.

But that wasn’t the major reason, oh no. Yozak had never worried about things like a person’s social standing. The biggest obstacle, and the one that Yozak knew that he would probably never overcome, was Susanna Julia Wincott. Even after all of the years since her death, Yozak knew that Konrad was still in love with her memory. There was no way that he could compete with a ghost, especially the memory of such a perfect, pure soul as Susanna Julia.

Yozak snorted to himself. Truth be told, he’d never liked Susanna Julia. In fact, he’d always despised her. Not because she had Konrad’s heart; he would have willingly allowed Konrad to be happy with someone else. No, he had always despised her because she had been the type of person that he hated – the oh-so-perfect, more-noble-than-thou do-gooder type who was a the martyr in the making. Julia had thought well of everybody, even when the truth of the matter was right before her very eyes (well, metaphorically anyway, since she had been blind). In Yozak’s opinion the woman had been blind inside, not just on the outside. Yuri might be a little too kind and soft-hearted, but he wasn’t like that wretched woman had been even if they did share a soul.

And the way that the stupid bitch had died - that had been the last straw that pitched Yozak’s secret dislike of her into out-and-out hatred. Everyone had blamed Gwendel Von Voltaire’s cousin Huber for her death, but that wasn’t true. Nobody had made the idiot wench overextend her powers to heal all of those people. It had just been the biggest example of Julia’s martyr complex. And all it had brought her had been her own death, and the pain and suffering of all of those who cared for her. Yozak had had to watch the light go out of Konrad’s eyes when he heard the news, and he had wanted nothing more that to just have been able to resurrect the woman so that he could have killed her again himself.

He understood, of course, why Konrad had loved her. And why her fiancé, Adalbert Von Graz, had adored the very ground she walked on. Both men were knights, noble warriors who had wanted someone worthy to serve. Julia, secure on her pristine pedestal, had represented that for both men. She had seemed the perfect and pure light in a world of darkness, her inner beauty matching her outer beauty. While she may have been a hopeless dreamer, she made other people go out and make those dreams come true for her. Konrad, Yozak knew, would have walked over burning hot coals without fear to fulfill her dreams. 

He knew Konrad so well. And Konrad knew him so little in return. But that was all right. It didn’t bother Yozak that Konrad couldn’t read his heart. As long as the man was in love with a ghost, it was better all around that he knew nothing of the way that that the spy felt about him. They could continue to be friends, comrades, whatever. Yozak would keep his thoughts and emotions hidden away behind the cheerful mask, the flawless armor that he used to keep the rest of the world at bay. And he would truly strive to be happy and carefree. Only once in awhile would he allow himself to brood a bit. His practical nature rejected self-pity and yearning too much over things that you couldn’t have. All it did in the end was hurt you.

 

He heard the sound of someone climbing the bluff. Instantly his face smoothed over into the mask, his flame-blue eyes becoming like mirrors. He didn’t look around, but out of the corner of his eye saw a flash of blonde hair as Wolfram came over to stand near the edge of the bluff, looking down. From the expression on the young prince’s face, he was probably contemplating jumping.

Yozak felt a stir of pity for the youth. Ever since Gwendel and Gunter’s wedding reception, Wolfram had begun to withdraw into himself. He still went through the motions of acting like his old self, but Yozak knew the difference between what was real and what was merely a put-on act. He saw how the boy’s misery had deepened over the last few months. Unrequited love was a bitch, Yozak knew. Especially when the beloved one didn’t even know or understand just how much they were loved. At least if they knew and rejected you, you could eventually move on to someone who actually wanted you, letting the wounds heal over. But while there was shred of hope…Yozak sighed.

“Want to talk about it, Kiddo?” he asked quietly, not looking at Wolfram directly.

“No,” Wolfram replied tightly. 

Yozak laughed softly. “That’s okay. I can pretty much figure out what’s bothering you anyway. And he’d down on the beach right now talking to your brother.”

He saw out of the corner of his eye how Wolfram’s face contracted in a look of utter misery. The blonde boy turned his head away sharply so that Yozak couldn’t see his face. The prince was proud, and didn’t want anyone to see his suffering. That was another emotion Yozak understood very well. He’d been hiding his own unhappiness for more years than the brat had been alive. 

“I know how you feel, Kiddo,” he said at last.

Wolfram snorted angrily. "How can you know how I feel?” he demanded.

“You think you’re the only one in the world who’s ever suffered from loving someone who doesn’t love you back? Get in line, Kiddo.” Yozak’s voice was delicately sarcastic.

Wolfram had turned to look at him now, curiosity overcoming his morose mood. “Are you trying to say that you’re in love with someone who doesn’t love you back?” he asked with disbelief in his voice.

Yozak smiled bitterly. Ah, the young! They never imagined that their elders had ever been anything like them. That they too longed and yearned and ached for what they could not have. The inbred selfishness of youth. Not that he hadn’t been like this once, as well. Everyone was at one time or another. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I‘m trying to say,” he said aloud.

“Who? Who are you in love with?” demanded Wolfram as though he had the right to know.

Yozak decided to indulge him just this once. “He’s down on the beach right now,” he replied quietly.

“WHAT?!" Wolfram nearly shrieked as anger twisted his features. "You stay away from Yuri, Yozak Grie!” he growled as his hand reached for his sword.

Yozak burst out laughing. The boy’s inherent jealousy wouldn’t even allow him to think that Yozak might be in love with anyone but his own beloved. Wolfram glared at him, and Yozak had to wave his hands in front of himself as he fought for breath. "I’m sorry!” he gasped when he could speak. "But that is just too funny, Kiddo. What makes you think that I‘m in love with the Maou? I mean, he’s a nice kid and all, but really…” he trailed off into laughter again as Wolfram stared at him in perplexity.

“Than if it isn’t Yuri…." He began uncertainly.

“There is someone else down there with your precious fiancé, you know,” Yozak said in amusement.

It took a moment for Wolfram to realize who he meant. "Konrad?” he said. “You’re in love with my BROTHER?!" 

Yozak turned his head to give Wolfram a cool stare. "And why not?” he asked. “Is there something wrong with that?" There was an edge to his voice as thin and sharp as the blade of a razor.

Wolfram shook his blonde head uncertainly. “No,” he began as his brows furrowed in thought. “In fact,” he went on, “I think it's great.”

Yozak’s brows shot up in surprise. “Oh?” he said, eyeing the kid warily.

Wolfram nodded. “Yes. I mean, I’d like to see Konrad be happy. And I…” he broke off before he met Yozak’s flame blue eyes with his own emerald ones. "I think that you could make him happy,” he continued thoughtfully.

 

Yozak was taken aback. "Thanks, Kiddo,” he said. Then he paused and shrugged. “But since I’m never likely to put that thought to the test, I’ll thank you for the sentiment alone.”

“But why?” Wolfram demanded.

Yozak shook his head. "Because your precious brother could give the Maou lessons in cluelessness,” he said bitterly. “And because he still yearns after a ghost. A living, breathing person can’t compete with a ghost...especially one like Susanna Julia.”

“Susanna Julia,” Wolfram repeated. “What does she have to do with this?”

“Konrad was in love with her,” Yozak replied simply. "And is still in love with her memory. Believe me Kiddo, I know. No one knows your brother better than I do. I can see how her memory still haunts him. I don’t stand a chance.”

Wolfram was silent. He stared out to sea, and Yozak could see a single tear sliding down his pale cheek. “So that’s it, then?” he whispered, the pain in his voice so deep that it made Yozak’s heart twist in sympathy. “That’s how it is? And there’s nothing either of us can do.” His shoulders slumped in despair.

Yozak hesitated. Then he spoke up quietly “Actually, Prince Wolfram, there may be something that you can do. I have a plan. I don’t know that it’ll help – it may backfire, in fact. But the truth is - how much longer can you go on this way? Wouldn’t you rather know whether Yuri can ever love you, even if the answer is no? At least you’d know. One way or the other you’d know.”

Wolfram turned to look at him full on. “What kind of plan?” he asked warily.

Yozak’s smile was bittersweet. “It’s just this…” he said.


	2. Chapter 2

“It’ll never work,” Wolfram said when Yozak had finished.

Yozak raised a brow at him. “Why not?” he asked in amusement.

Wolfram shook his head. “Because there’s no way that I could convince Yuri that I’m in love with…” he trailed off.

“Me?” finished Yozak calmly. 

Wolfram shrugged. “No offense...you’re a nice guy, but…”

Yozak chuckled. “I understand. But that’s why they call it ‘acting’. You have to convince Yuri that you want to break the engagement because you’ve fallen for someone else, but you don’t have to actually feel the emotions.”

“But that’s just it!” cried Wolfram, throwing his hands into the air. “I can’t just look Yuri in the eye and say that convincingly. I’m not an actor. He’d never believe me.”

Yozak nodded. “Normally no.” He replied. "But I’m going to give you some advice that should help. When you tell him that you’re in love with someone else, don’t call me by name. Say ‘him’. And when you do, exchange that word in your head for Yuri. Think about how much you love him. That way you won’t be lying. It’s all about semantics, Kiddo.”

Wolfram eyed him. “That’s pretty cynical,” he observed.

Yozak’s lips quirked. “But it works. And if you want to try to make Yuri jealous, then you have to be convincing. Both he and Konrad have to believe that you’re telling the truth. I know you can do it, young Prince. If you want to that is.” He peered keenly at Wolfram’s face.

Wolfram was silent. Did he? Did he truly want proof that Yuri didn’t love him? If he didn’t protest at all over Wolfram’s wish to break the engagement so that he could marry someone else, then he’d know for sure that Yuri didn’t care. He hugged himself as a chill shivered down his spine. It would hurt so much if he got confirmation of Yuri’s heartlessness. But Yozak was right – how much longer could he go on living like this? Not knowing, miserable, yearning for something he could not have. The pain he’d feel would be terrible, but he would survive it. And eventually he’d heal. But continuing on as he had would finally just break him altogether.

“All right,” he whispered. “I’ll do it.”

Yozak nodded seriously. “Good.”

Wolfram shook himself. He grimaced. “I won’t actually have to kiss you or anything will I?” he asked in distaste, not really thinking about the fact that he was insulting Yozak. The orange-haired soldier grinned. “I’ll try to work it so that you don’t have to,” he said dryly.

Wolfram realized how what he’d said would sound to the other man. “I’m sorry.” he said hurriedly, “It’s just that…” He began. 

Yozak held up a hand. “No need to apologize, young Prince.” he said cheerfully. “I’m not the least bit attracted to you either. I can understand your wish to avoid real intimacy.”

Wolfram looked relieved that Yozak understood. He hesitated. “I…what will happen if Yuri doesn’t…I won’t actually have to marry you, will I?” 

Yozak laughed as Wolfram unintentionally insulted him yet again. “Of course not,” he said reassuringly. “After awhile we’ll find that we don’t suit each other after all. We’ll break the engagement and go our separate ways.”

“Okay,” Wolfram pulled together all of his strength of will. He could do this. He had to.

“Wait a moment,” Yozak said as Wolfram started to leave. “Come here,” Wolfram eyed him uncertainly but finally walked over to where Yozak still sat on the boulder. The soldier put a finger up to his lips. “Do what I do,” he told Wolfram. The blonde prince hesitantly put up a finger and began to massage his lips with it. He did this until Yozak told him to stop.

“Good,” Yozak said again, seeing that Wolfram’s lips were now darkened and swollen-looking. “Now pinch your cheeks,” he said, demonstrating once again. Wolfram grimaced as he did so until his alabaster cheeks were a rosy color. “One last thing,” Yozak said, getting to his feet. His hands darted out and disarranged Wolfram's blonde locks before the young prince could protest. “There," he said in satisfaction. “Now you look like a man who’s just been kissed.” He said. Wolfram blushed at his words, adding even more color to his face. 

There was no other reason to hesitate. Wolfram decided to just do it before he lost his nerve altogether. He straightened his spine and lifted his head proudly. The blnode boy began to walk toward the path leading down to the beach. His head was full of Yozak’s instructions. “I can’t just tell him that I fell in love with you right now,” he’d said incredulously when Yozak had told him his plan. 

“Of course not,” the soldier/spy had replied. “You’ll tell him that you found yourself becoming more and more attracted to me over time, but that you didn’t think that I cared for you in return. But today, when you came up here, you put your courage to the test. You confessed to me how you felt about me, and you were delighted to find that I returned your sentiments. So you want to break the engagement with Yuri to marry the man you love.” Wolfram marched down the path to meet his fate, whatever it might be. Yozak watched him go with sympathetic eyes. “Good luck, Prince,” he said softly to Wolfram’s retreating back.

 

Yuri was happily building a small, lopsided castle in the sand under Konrad’s bemused eyes. He patted at the sand with his slender fingers, trying to get the south wall to stand up straight. It kept slumping, no matter how much he shored it up. He hummed to himself as he worked, remembering all of the summers that he and his family had gone to the beach on vacation. He wished he had a plastic pail and a shovel. This would be a lot easier if he did.

A pair of boots appeared in his line of sight. He heard Wolfram’s voice say: “I need to talk to you, Yuri,” his voice was nearly toneless. 

Yuri raised his head and blinked up at his fiancé. Wolfram’s face was pinched with emotion, his eyes half-lidded as though he were trying to hide what he was feeling from Yuri. His cheeks were reddened, and his mouth looked kind of swollen. His hair was mussed as though someone had run their fingers through it. The Maou frowned. “What is it Wolfram?” he asked worriedly, sitting back on his heels.

Wolfram took a deep breath. He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them there was determination in their depths. “I want to break our engagement, Yuri,” he said simply, meeting Yuri’s eyes steadily.

Yuri was taken aback. “W-what?” he stammered, wondering if he’d heard correctly.

“I want to break our engagement,” Wolfram repeated firmly.

Yuri saw Konrad staring at his brother in astonishment. “Why?” he demanded, feeling bewildered by this sudden about-face from Wolfram. 

Wolfram remembered Yozak’s words. “I don’t want to marry you anymore” he told Yuri ruthlessly. “You don’t love me Yuri - and I got tired of trying to love you without any reciprocation. And I’ve fallen in love with someone else. Someone who loves me in return. I want to marry him, Yuri, so I need you to break our engagement.”

Yuri felt his stomach churning at Wolfram’s words. He stared up at the blonde prince, trying to read the other boy's face. To see if he really meant what he said. But Wolfram had taken Yozak’s advice. When he spoke of being in love, he thought only of Yuri. The depths of his true emotions rang in his voice and showed in his face. Yuri’s heart sank at seeing that truth there. “Wolfram,” he whispered. Then he pulled himself together enough to demand, “Who is it? Who is this person that you want to marry, Wolfram?” he demanded, not knowing what emotion was curling in his belly and making him feel angry in a way that he’d never felt before.

Wolfram was glad that Yuri had not worded his question differently and asked who it was whom he loved. He wasn’t sure that he could have lied about that. He took a deep breath and said: “Yozak Grie.” 

Yuri’s eyes widened. Behind him Konrad’s eyes did the same. Both men gaped at the blonde prince in disbelief. “Yozak?!” Yuri squeaked. Wolfram couldn’t be serious!

Wolfram drew himself up. “That’s right,” he said. “I’ve been attracted to him for some time,” he said, beginning to tell the story that Yozak had given him, “But I didn’t think that he cared for me in return. But today - today when I went up there” he pointed at the bluff, “I couldn’t help myself anymore. I confessed to him how I felt about him, and he told me that he loves me in return.” His emerald eyes shone, because he was imagining in his head a situation where he had confessed to Yuri his love, and Yuri told him that he loved him in return. His imaginings were so strong that he almost believed them, and that showed in his face. It glowed with happiness, and Yuri felt the nausea in his stomach grow stronger at Wolfram’s expression. It must be true, in spite of the fact that he was having trouble believing it. 

Konrad put his hand on the Maou’s shoulder. He could feel that Yuri was trembling faintly. He himself was shocked by his brother’s confession – but he was beginning to believe it, as well. Like Yuri, he found that his disbelief couldn’t stand in the face of the love shining in Wolfram’s face and eyes. Never in a million years would he have ever believed that Wolfram would fall in love with his best friend. It was such a strange feeling to contemplate it. It made a peculiar hollow void open up in Konrad. While he felt pity for Yuri, because he’d always hoped that the Maou would admit that he cared for Wolfram and that the two would settle down in wedded bliss, he also felt a sharp pain run through his chest when he thought of Yozak marrying his brother.

Yuri felt breathless. He panted frantically as he looked at Wolfram out of large (now brown) eyes almost pleadingly. 'Tell me it’s a joke,' those eyes begged. Wolfram hardened his heart against those eyes. All of the anger he felt toward Yuri’s indifference helped to steady him to do what he had to do. “You don’t have to break the engagement until we get back to Shin Makoku,” he said coolly. “Not officially anyway. But you can now consider our engagement broken Yuri.” He turned on his heel, giving them his back, and walked away without a single backward glance.

Yuri felt rather dizzy as he watched Wolfram walk away. He wanted to scream after him, to beg and plead for the blonde boy to change his mind. 'But why should he?' The Maou thought in horror. 'You’ve never been interested in him. Why shouldn’t he marry someone who actually loves and wants him? Why should he remain engaged to you, Yuri? Because,' he thought in the deepest part of his mind, 'You thought you could have your cake and eat it too. You could have the lovely boy fawn on and adore you, and you never had to give anything in return. Even Wolfram’s jealous fits were proof of the fact that he loved you. You were so smug that you accepted that love and never gave him anything in return. And now you’ve lost him for good.' 

He bowed his head. Pain was a biting, tearing animal within his breast. And the worst thing of all was that it was his fault. He’d driven Wolfram away with his complaints and indifference, so there was no one to blame but himself. He felt Konrad’s hand on his shoulder and there was compassion in the knight's quiet voice as he said: “I’m so sorry, Heika.”

“No,” Yuri shook his head. “No, Konrad. This is all my fault.” His voice was anguished. He stared after Wolfram’s retreating form, trying to fight back tears. Konrad said nothing else, for he knew that Yuri spoke the truth. He sighed, wishing that there were some way that he could comfort the Maou. 

 

 

Yozak walked down from the bluff a little while later. He saw that Yuri was slumped on the piece of driftwood with his head bowed. Konrad stood over him protectively, and there was no sign of Wolfram. The soldier strolled over to the two men, his sharp, blue-flame eyes taking in their body language and Konrad’s expression. 'Good,' he thought. 'Looks like it might be working.'

Konrad looked up as he approached. The brown eyes regarded him steadily. Yozak met those eyes fearlessly. There was no way that Konrad could read him if he didn’t want him to. He kept a small, happy smile pasted to his face, the look of a man who’d just received some very good news, and was reveling in it. Konrad stepped away from Yuri and came toward him over the sand. “Yozak,” he said quietly.

“Commander?” Yozak replied, crossing his arms over his chest easily.

“Is it true?” Konrad asked, sounding as though he’d like Yozak to deny everything. 

“Is what true?” Yozak replied, contriving to look innocent.

Konrad frowned at him. “Is it true that you wish to marry my brother Wolfram?” he demanded.

Yozak met his eyes as he replied calmly “Of course it’s true. I’ve loved him for awhile now. I just didn’t think that he cared for me in return. I’m nobody special, after all. I never thought to hear him confess that he loved me. But it’s the only thing that I’ve ever wanted. And hearing him say it has made me very happy.” He said all of this using the technique that he’d taught Wolfram. It was how his eyes could reflect nothing but the honesty of his feelings as he met the eyes of the man he loved head-on.

Konrad’s shoulders slumped. He’d had a faint hope that Yozak would deny being in love with Wolfram. But Yozak had never lied to him before (that he knew of) and he trusted his friend implicitly. If the spy said that it was true, then it must be so. Especially when he could see the shine of Yozak’s real emotions in those beautiful flame-blue eyes. “Very well,” he murmured, turning away to go back to Yuri. 

It made Yozak’s heart hurt to watch him walk away. He hated doing this to Konrad, and making Yuri feel bad. But his ruthless practicality told him that this would be better for both Yuri and Wolfram in the long run, no matter how much pain that there was now. And as for Konrad – he sighed and shook his head. No matter what the outcome was between Yuri and Wolfram, he would eventually confess to his commander what this whole situation had been about. He knew that Konrad would understand, even if he saw this bit of playacting as a betrayal of his trust. He might be able to salvage their friendship. And he’d be no worse off than he had been before. He could go back to loving the man from a distance, and keeping his feelings hidden away. He’d done it most of his life, after all. Why, he wondered bleakly, did something he was so accomplished at never seem to get any easier?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our travelers are all miserable...here's hoping that something happens to make them all less so soon!

It was an extremely unhappy little group that left the white sand beach to follow the coast road to the nearest human village. Wolfram and Yozak walked side-by-side, laughing and talking together. Yuri and Konrad trailed after them, both men watching the two who walked ahead of them with disconsolate eyes and woebegone faces. Yuri watched Yozak’s hand settle lightly on Wolfram’s shoulder, and glared at the orange-haired man with a black gaze that should have incinerated Yozak on the spot.

Konrad was troubled. He was worried about Yuri, who was obviously suffering over this turn of events. And…he let his eyes rest on Yozak’s broad back. He admitted to himself that he was shaken up by the news that his best friend was going to marry his baby brother. It was so strange to think that soon Yozak would be a brother-by-marriage to him, as Gunter was. But while he had no objections to having Gunter in that position (In fact he was very pleased about it), the thought of Yozak being related to him by marriage made his stomach twist. He wasn’t sure why he felt such different emotions about the two men. He knew that it was ridiculous to object to this marriage if it was what Wolfram wanted. All he desired was to see his younger brother be happy. If he was happy with Yozak, how could he object?

Yozak’s bright mane of hair flashed in the sun as he bent his head a little to whisper something to Wolfram. Whatever it was made the green-eyed boy smile. Konrad was strongly reminded of the first time that he’d ever seen that mop of orange hair - when his father’s caravan had arrived at that horrible village in Big Shimaron. It had been where human women who had married Mazoku men and had had their children were sent as punishment. He'd sat on his horse, a mere boy of thirteen, and looked down on the big boy kneeling in the dirt next to his mother’s grave. When his father called to the boy, he'd whirled around so that they could see his pale face and wide, flame-blue eyes. He wasn’t crying. He'd looked like a person who’d lost the ability to cry some time ago.

The boy had loped over to them, and Konrad had seen how his eyes lit up from within when Dan Hiri Weller had offered to take him away from that wretched place and back to Mazoku lands. Konrad had taken the boy up behind him on his horse, and he'd felt the boy’s long arms settle around him and clutch at his mid-section. Yozak had said nothing all that afternoon and evening, withdrawn into himself behind thick walls that Konrad could sense. That night, when the camp had settled down to sleep, Konrad had crawled under the wagon that Yozak was sleeping under. He'd found the bigger boy curled up in a near-ball but not asleep, his eyes staring sightlessly out into the darkness.

He’d slid his slender body in beside Yozak’s, sensing instinctively that human touch was what the grieving boy had needed most. He’d rested his chin on Yozak’s shoulder, feeling the slight stiffening of the other boy’s muscles at the touch. “I’m sorry about your mother,” Konrad had told him gravely. “You must be really sad.” 

Yozak had taken in a sharp breath at his words, but still the other boy had said nothing. “I miss my mother,” Konrad had confessed quietly. 

After a moment’s silence, a hoarse voice had asked: "Is she dead?”

Konrad had shaken his head, even as he said aloud: “No. But since I came with my father on this trip, I haven’t seen her in a long time. And I don’t know when I’ll see her again. I know it's not as bad as your mother dying, but I still miss her an awful lot.” The sadness in his voice had touched the shell-shocked older boy. After a time, Konrad had heard a soft sound. Yozak had begun to sob quietly, the pain in those sounds touching the smaller boy. He'd put his arms around the shuddering form and held him, while Yozak had cried for the first time since his mother’s death. 

After that the two boys became fast friends. They were close enough in age and situation (both being half-breeds) that they could understand each other pretty well. Yozak had looked after Konrad physically, letting no one pick on him because of his smaller size. And Konrad had been a healing force for the other boy, helping him to learn how to feel again just by being himself. They'd trained together, went to war together - and Yozak had dragged Konrad's half-dead self away from the battlefield nearly at the cost of his own life. 

When he'd heard about Julia’s death, it had been Yozak who'd reminded him that there were others who cared about him and that he had no right to die. And if he hadn’t survived, Konrad wouldn’t have lived to see Julia reborn into Yuri. Yozak had always been there for him, a blithe spirit who he trusted with everything - including his life. Even when it appeared that Konrad had gone over to the enemy, that he was working for Big Shimaron, the knight had been able to send a message with Yozak to gather Gwendel’s army. He’d used the understanding that they’d acquired of one another over a lifetime to communicate to the spy, and Yozak had found a way to leave. Granted it had been an extreme form, diving into a river off a cliff. He’d worried almost as much as the others when Yozak went over the edge. He was never more grateful when he'd seen Gwendel’s army appear with a bandaged Yozak in tow.

He trusted Yozak. He cared for him. They were friends who were closer than brothers in many ways. So why was he so disturbed by the fact that his friend was to marry his brother? There was no one else that he would trust Wolfram’s happiness to more, except Yuri, of course. And frankly the Maou had proved that he couldn’t or wouldn’t work toward Wolfram’s happiness. So why shouldn’t he be pleased that Yozak would look after his precious brother? Konrad just didn’t know, and it troubled him deeply. He frowned to himself as he contemplated his own uneasy reaction, trying to understand it.

Yuri stared at the back of Wolfram’s head. Those beautiful golden curls shone in the sun like precious metal. As he watched, Yozak put his hand on Wolfram’s shoulder, and the Maou had to fight back the urge to growl. He was torturing himself with images of Yozak doing even more intimate things to Wolfram - kissing him, hugging him, having…gulp…sex with him…these thoughts were extremely disturbing to a boy who hadn’t even thought that much about sex before. But if Wolfram married Yozak, it was inevitable that the two of them would…Just like Gwendel and Gunter. Sometimes the way those two looked at each other made him squirm, feeling embarrassed and also a little weird. Yuri didn’t know if he could stand to watch Wolfram and Yozak look at each other that way, to know that they were both thinking about the same thing…and that thing was definitely not baseball. Another non-spectator sport perhaps…

What, he wondered miserably, was he to tell Greta? His adopted human daughter thought of Wolfram as her other parent. She would be sad to hear that Wolfram wasn’t to be her mother or other father. And Yuri knew that he’d be sad, as well. Over time, gradually, he’d come to think of him and Wolfram and Greta as a family. Like his family back on Earth, except that in this case it was he and Wolfram who were the parents. But the thing was, no matter how much he didn’t want to ever think about it, his parents were sexually intimate with each other. They'd had to be or there was no way that he or his elder brother could have come about. That was part of what the partners in a marriage did. Why had he never thought that before? 

Probably because he’d never really thought of Wolfram in a sexual way before. The boy was beautiful it was true; but to Yuri he'd always just been a friend. A friend who happened to be engaged to him by accident, that was all. But he now knew that Wolfram hadn’t thought of him in that way, because among the Mazoku marriages between same-sex couples were common and approved of. Wolfram had expected all that went along with a real marriage, and over time he must have become more and more frustrated with Yuri’s choice to remain ignorant on the subject. Because it had been his choice. He could have made more overtures to Wolfram, have tried to get to know the other boy better, to decide if he really wanted to be married to another male or not. But he’d been content to let things stand as they were, and now he’d lost Wolfram because of his own stupidity and blindness.

He bit his lip. Now, he’d have to watch as Wolfram married someone else. The blonde would remain at Blood Pledge Castle, and the marriage would take place there, as well. He’d have to see Wolfram smiling at Yozak, and walking arm-in-arm with him like Gwendel and Gunter did. He’d know every morning what the two of them had been doing each night, for he always ate breakfast with the brothers and Günter. This could go on for years. Decades. If he could have devised a torture for himself, Yuri couldn’t have thought up a better one than this. And from now on he would be sleeping alone in his cold bed each night. But that was what he’d wanted, right? After all, Wolfram took up the entire bed, kicking him off on the floor; and the blonde boy snored as well. Now he’d be able to get a good night’s sleep again. 

Yes, that was true. He wouldn’t have to put up with Wolfram draping himself over Yuri, or feel the prince's breath stirring the hair behind his ear. And he wouldn’t have to feel the warmth of Wolfram’s body, felt through that flimsy little scrap of pink material that Wolfram called a nightgown…at the memory of that garment, Yuri almost literally saw red. Because he knew that soon enough Wolfram would be wearing that filmy scrap of material to bed with Yozak. The Maou gritted his teeth as his hands clenched in anger. He didn’t want anyone else to see that nightgown. Or to touch the slender, beautiful, white body under that gown. Both that body and that gown belonged to HIM. 

Konrad was pulled out of his own dark musings when Yuri made a small, savage sound in the back of his throat. He looked down to see the Maou glaring daggers at Yozak’s back. “Are you all right, Heika?” he asked, knowing that the answer was pretty much a resounding NO. 

Yuri’s brows furrowed. “Have you ever lost something because you were too stupid to realize that you'd had it, Konrad?” he asked sadly.

Konrad sighed. He didn’t look again at Yozak’s back, but an image of a pair of steady, flame-blue eyes slid through his head as he replied quietly. "Yes, Yuri. I think I have.”

 

Yozak could see how acutely miserable Wolfram was. The boy hated this pretense; he hated doing this to Yuri. While he admired the kid’s caring and faithful nature, the spy also knew that this was for the best. The Maou needed a good wake-up kick in the ass, and that wouldn’t have happened if Wolfram had continued to feed the boy’s complacency. Yuri had grown used to having a fiancé with all of the perks that went along with it - and none of the drawbacks. And he didn’t even have to work at the relationship, instead spending all of his time whining about having a male as a fiancé and having to sleep in the same bed as that male. There were times when Yozak would have liked to have smacked Yuri in the face over the way he treated Wolfram, despite how much he sincerely liked the boy. 

“Buck up, Kiddo,” he said softly to Wolfram. He patted the boy’s shoulder gently, and Wolfram somehow conjured up a small smile for him in return.

“I know,” he sighed. “We have to keep pretending that we’re happy and in love. But I…” he trailed off, his large emerald eyes sad.

“It’s not easy,” Yozak agreed. “Sometimes it's downright difficult to walk around with a cheerful face, when it feels like your heart is splitting in two.”

Wolfram looked up at him. “Is that how you feel a lot?” he asked in sympathy. “Being around my brother, that is?”

Yozak’s mouth quirked. “All the time,” he said tiredly. “But I’ve learned to deal with it. I had no choice but to do so. Otherwise I would have fallen apart years ago, and have been no good to anybody.”

“I’m sorry,” Wolfram said sympathetically.

Yozak shrugged. “We have to work with the hand that life deals us,” he said phlegmatically. “Feeling sorry for ourselves only makes us more miserable. It’s best to be practical if you can, Kiddo.”

Wolfram shook his head. “I’m not very practical,” he said. “And I’m not sure that I can learn to be, either. I WANT things to work out. I want to be happy. And I want my brother to be happy too.” He gave Yozak a sideways look. “With you,” he added firmly.

Yozak chuckled wryly. “If only wishes really did come true,” he remarked cynically. “And if only horses flew, we’d be able to get where we were going faster.”

“But there’s nothing wrong with hoping, is there?” Wolfram asked him softly.

Yozak smiled. “No, Kiddo, there’s nothing wrong with that at all.”

“Then I won’t give up hope,” Wolfram replied firmly. “Not until it’s obvious that the whole thing is hopeless.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love confessions abound

The four of them were weary and heartsick by the time they reached the village in the evening. They headed straight for the local inn, all of them feeling very tired for some reason. The landlady, a smiling, rounded human with a friendly twinkle in her eyes, informed them that she had two rooms left, with two beds a piece. A tense silence sprang up in the group at this news, until Konrad turned to his brother and told him in no uncertain terms that he would be bunking with Yuri, since his engagement to Yozak wasn’t official yet. Wolfram nodded silently, accepting this ultimatum with surprising grace. Yozak merely shrugged, but his blue flame eyes gleamed with humor in their depths. 

They had the dining room all to themselves, because it was late enough that the other guests had already eaten. Wolfram sat next to Yozak on one side of the table, while Yuri and Konrad sat across from them. Yuri glowered at the two sitting across from him under his eyebrows, his artificially-brown eyes full of smoldering jealousy. But whenever Wolfram looked at him, he hurriedly looked down at his plate. So the blonde boy always saw only the top of Yuri’s dyed-red head, and he never got to see the expression on the other boy's face. He became more and more depressed as dinner progressed, and at last only sat and played with his food, while responding as cheerfully as he could to Yozak’s remarks.

Yozak, being much more the expert at acting one way while feeling another, put on a good show of a man in the first throes of love. Konrad, watching him from his own place across the table, felt a strange, bleak feeling run through him as he watched his friend with his brother. He’d never seen this side of Yozak before – he’d seen the spy's cheerful, happy-go-lucky side, and sometimes the deeply-serious side that the orange-haired man seldom showed to others, but not the sweetly romantic, gently-caring side that Yozak was displaying toward Wolfram. The knight was a bit taken aback by it, and somewhat wistful as well. He tried to concentrate on his own food, but couldn’t seem to taste any of it. 

Everyone was glad when dinner was over. Wolfram pushed himself abruptly up from his chair, and excused himself in a stifled tone of voice. He hurried out, leaving the others staring after him. Yozak got up promptly and followed him without a word, leaving Yuri looking after them in puzzlement, while Konrad furrowed his brows over his brother’s odd behavior. 

 

 

Wolfram dashed out the door into the inn’s backyard. The blonde took deep breaths, as he stood with his hands fisted and his body trembling faintly. The prince closed his eyes as he fought against the tears that burned at the backs of them. 'This isn’t working,' he thought desperately. 'Yuri doesn’t care about me. I did it all for nothing and now I’ve lost him for good. But what else could I do? I couldn’t go on pretending that I was happy in that wretched sham of an engagement.' He bowed his head in silent misery, his heart aching.

He felt a pair of strong arms enclose him from behind. “It’ll be all right, Kiddo,” Yozak’s voice said compassionately in his ear.

Wolfram shook his head as he said hoarsely: “You don’t know that.”

Yozak was silent. He could read people better than Wolfram, and he thought that Yuri was displaying many of the signs of acute jealousy. But that didn’t mean that his plan was going to work. It was all up to Yuri, and Yozak wasn’t sure how much faith that he had in the boy. He felt Wolfram’s body shake with a near-silent sob, and he turned the boy in his arms so that he could pull the blonde head to his chest and let the prince have a good cry-out. Sometimes those were best. Wolfram began to weep in earnest as he leaned against Yozak’s chest, and he felt one of Yozak’s hands begin to rub soothing circles on his back.

 

 

Yuri stood frozen in the doorway, staring at this tableau. He’d come out here to see if Wolfram was all right, and he was shocked to see the blonde boy crying against Yozak’s chest. Why was he crying? He’d never seen Wolfram cry before, and certainly not like this - the sounds the other boy was making were heartbreaking. Yuri felt anger stirring in his breast. What had Yozak done to him to make Wolfram cry like that? He glared furiously at the orange-haired man, rage that Yozak had made his Wolfram cry churning in his belly.

The anger began to take him over. His hair began to lengthen and turn snaky, his eyes went black as cat-slit pupils appeared, and power began to flow over his body as the Demon King manifested himself. 

A whack of wind hit the two standing in the yard. Yozak looked up in surprise, and his eyes widened when he saw the MAOU standing near the doorway. Wolfram whirled around, gaping, as the Demon King strode into the courtyard and confronted them. Serpents made of blue light were beginning to uncoil from his body and rear upward as he turned a black stare on a shocked Yozak. “YOU HAVE CAUSED THE ONE WHO IS MINE PAIN,” he said in his deep, terrible voice. “FOR THAT YOU SHALL PAY THE PRICE.”

Yozak’s mouth dropped open. He took a step back, readying himself to run. Although frankly he didn’t think that he’d be able to outrun the irate Demon King’s magic. This was going to hurt. All he could hope was that the furious creature didn’t kill him outright. But Wolfram threw himself in front of Yozak with his arms outstretched. “Yuri, NO!” he screamed. “Don’t hurt him! He didn’t do anything to me, I swear!”

The Maou hesitated. His cat-slit eyes turned to Wolfram’s face, studying him. “WHY WERE YOU CRYING, THEN?” he demanded.

Wolfram closed his eyes as he confessed. “I was unhappy because the person I love doesn’t love me,” he admitted.

“THIS ONE DOESN’T LOVE YOU?” There was an ominous tone in the Maou’s voice that said that Yozak would pay dearly for his heartlessness.

“Not him,” Wolfram said sadly. He dropped his arms and opened his eyes. “I don’t love him, Yuri.”

The Demon King frowned. “WHO IS IT THAT YOU LOVE, THEN?”

Wolfram met those black, black cat’s-eyes squarely. “You.” He said simply. “It’s always been you. I’ll never love anyone else, Yuri, not ever.”

A look of deep surprise passed over the pale, handsome face. Then a look of pleasure superseded it. “GOOD,” the Maou said. And then he folded to the ground and became an unconscious Yuri while Yozak scratched his head and remarked: “Well, that was interesting.”

 

 

Konrad watched Yozak settle the still unconscious Yuri onto one of the beds in him and Wolfram’s room. He frowned. “But why did he become the Maou in the first place?” he demanded of a shaken Wolfram.

Wolfram wouldn’t look at him. “He was upset because I was crying. He thought that Yozak had made me cry and he was going to punish him for it.”

Konrad looked at Yozak, who had straightened up and was giving him a steady stare in return. “Had he made you cry?” the knight asked in a dire tone. Yozak rolled his eyes. It wasn’t a huge surprise that the overprotective Konrad would be the next to threaten violence against him for reducing Wolfram to tears.

Wolfram shook his head. “No, I wasn’t crying because of anything Yozak did. In fact he was trying to comfort me.”

Konrad switched his gaze to Wolfram’s face. “Why were you crying then?” he asked gently.

Wolfram hesitated. He wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or saddened that his confession of love would be forgotten by Yuri when he woke up. He didn’t want to tell his elder brother about the reason for his tears, and the plan that Yozak had come up with. Konrad might be angry at Yozak for the deception, and he didn’t want that. 

Fortunately, Yozak himself took him off the hook. “He was crying, Commander, because it looked like the plan we came up with to make Yuri jealous wasn’t workin’ out.”

Konrad blinked in puzzlement. “What plan?” he said.

Yozak sighed. “The whole thing about the Prince and I being in love. That was all bullshit. I was hoping that if the boy here,” he waved at the sleeping Yuri, “Saw that his fiancé wanted someone else, he’d come to see how much he cared for Wolfram. The Prince was crying because he was afraid that it wasn’t working, that’s all.”

A look of comprehension bloomed on Konrad’s face. Relief welled up in him as he took in the news, and he had the sudden urge to yell with glee. Instead, he turned to his brother. “I think that it might actually be working, Wolfram,” he said. “Yuri’s been miserable all afternoon. And he couldn’t stop staring at you.”

Wolfram’s green eyes lit up with hope. “Are you sure?” he asked, and Konrad nodded.

“There! You see, Kiddo?” Yozak beamed at Wolfram, who was smiling for the first time in what seemed like years. “I thought that all the boy needed was a good kick in the ass, metaphorically speaking.”

Konrad wished that he could hug Wolfram, but his brother seldom let the knight show his affection toward him. Instead he showed his caring in another way. “You should get some sleep, Wolfram,” he said. “You look tired.”

“You do at that, Kiddo,” Yozak said, studying Wolfram’s rather pale face. “Things’ll be better in the morning, I guarantee it.”

Wolfram didn’t snarl at Konrad for treating him like a baby. He was too tired and off-balance and nearly dizzy with hope. So he only nodded, and went to go sit on the empty bed, lifting his foot wearily so that he could begin to remove his boots. “Sweet dreams, Kiddo,” Yozak told him, as Konrad said quietly, “Good night, Wolfram.” 

 

 

The two men left the room to go to their own, neither saying anything until after they’d entered the room and Konrad had shut the door. He watched as Yozak went to sit down on one of the beds. The knight was happy to discover that the whole of today’s heartbreak had been nothing more than a bit of playacting, an attempt to make Yuri jealous. It was just like the clever Yozak to come up with such a plan, and execute it perfectly. The man was a very good actor when he wanted to be. But something was niggling at the back of the knight's brain. He stood near the door as he stared at Yozak’s bent head, trying to figure out what was pushing at him.

Finally, he realized what it was. He understood Yozak far better than the spy knew. He understood how Yozak could lie with a straight face, and actually make other people believe implicitly in what he’d said. Today Yozak had looked him straight in the eye and said that he was in love with Wolfram, but that had been a lie. A lie that he had believed because of the sincerity in Yozak's voice. But…a curious sensation ran through Konrad. Yozak could never have made him believe it if the spy hadn’t been sincere about his feelings. So Yozak loved SOMEONE, even if it wasn’t Wolfram. He felt almost sick to his stomach as a feeling of excitement and nervousness combined rushed over him.

“Yozak,” he croaked.

The spy looked up from removing his boots. “Commander?” he said.

“Today you told me that you loved Wolfram. That you were very happy that he’d finally admitted that he was in love with you.”

Yozak smiled ruefully as he scratched at his head rather sheepishly. “Yeah, well, sorry about that. But if you hadn’t believed that it were true, there was no way that the boy would have believed it. It had to look real.”

Konrad nodded jerkily. “I understand that. I’m not angry at you, Yozak. What I want to know is…who were you thinking about when you told me that you were in love?”

A frozen, horrified stillness fell over Yozak. His eyes widened a little, and went blank as two mirrors. “I don’t know what you mean, Commander,” he said in a strained fashion.

Konrad shook his head as he began to walk toward his friend. “I know you, Yozak. I’ve seen you lie to others before, although never to me. You’re one of the best liars that I’ve ever seen, because you can project such truth into your voice. That’s because you’re twisting your words, putting some truth into the lie so that the whole thing sounds true. To tell such a truthful-sounding lie today, you would have had to do the same thing. So…do you love someone, Yozak? Were you thinking about someone you love when you told me that you loved Wolfram?”

He stopped a few steps from Yozak, who was doing a good imitation of a statue. “Well?” Konrad demanded in the tone of a man who won’t be brooked. It was the tone he used while commanding on the battlefield, and the soldier in Yozak responded to it instinctively. “Tell me, Yozak. Is there someone you love?”

Yozak somehow got his vocal cords to work. “Yes,” he said simply, dropping his eyes to study the floor beneath his feet as though he found the plain wooden boards fascinating.

“Who?” Konrad asked urgently. He stared at the top of Yozak’s head, as though willing him mentally to speak the truth. 

“I…” Yozak hunched his shoulders. To finally admit the truth…to put it to the test. He’d never lacked courage, although some might see it that way, because he believed firmly that discretion was the better part of valor. In other words, run away if you can to fight another day. And he’d never truly been able to lie to the man standing over him, not for long anyway. “You,” he said softly. “It was you.”

Konrad felt as though he’d been punched in the stomach. True, he’d suspected what Yozak was going to say, but to actually hear him admit it…He gasped a little, trying to catch his breath and get his mind to start working again. “Why…why didn’t you ever tell me this?” he asked when he could speak again.

Yozak shook his head still without looking up. “Because you’re still in love with Julia,” he said tiredly. “I knew I couldn’t compete.”

Konrad’s brows drew together. “But Julia is…” he began to protest.

“I know she’d dead,” Yozak cut him off ruthlessly. "But you’re still in love with her ghost, Commander. That’s why I’ve never said anything.”

Konrad was silent as he thought about what Yozak had just said. Was it true? Was he still in love with the memory of Julia? He saw with a kind of chill that Yozak was right. He had been pining over Julia for all of these years. Perhaps, somewhere inside of himself, he’d assumed that she had been his one true love, and that when he lost her (although he’d never really had her) that he couldn’t love again. Perhaps he’d even thought that he’d failed her somehow by not being there for her when she'd died. And because of that he didn’t deserve to love or be loved. These were ridiculous fancies, he could see that now, but he’d never really consciously thought about it. Not until today, when the man he’d taken for granted all of these years had looked him in the eyes and told him that he was in love with his brother.

'I’m an idiot,' Konrad thought ruefully. 'I’m worse than Yuri. Yuri’s only been ignoring and taking Wolfram for granted for less than a year. I’ve been doing the same thing for decades. He was right in front of my eyes, so close that I couldn’t even see him. And he’s just admitted that he loves me. You are such a blind fool, Konrad Weller. You don’t deserve any of this. But by Shinou, now that you can see it, take it. Grab it with both hands. Don’t be stupid about this, because you’ll most likely never get another chance like this one.'

He bent a little to reach out, and put his hand under Yozak’s chin. He lifted the man’s startled face so that he could look into those beautiful, blue-flame eyes. There was resignation in Yozak’s gaze; he didn’t expect anything but pain over his confession. That was his fault, Konrad knew. He shook his head sadly. “I’m so sorry, Yozak,” he said gently.

Yozak closed his eyes and shuddered. “I understand, Commander,” he said hoarsely. “I know that you don’t feel the same about me as I do for you.”

Konrad realized in horror that he’d just screwed up again. Yozak thought that he was apologizing because the knight didn’t love him in return. He tightened his fingers on Yozak’s chin as he said firmly, “Never assume anything about me, Yozak. I wasn’t apologizing because I don’t care for you in return. I was apologizing for being a blind fool, for never seeing how you felt about me even though you were right there beside me all the time. I’m an idiot, Yozak. Can you ever forgive me?”

Yozak’s eyes flew open. He stared up at Konrad in shock. "What are you saying?” he asked, all of his muscles tensing as he fought against feeling useless hope. 

Konrad’s brown eyes looked steadily down into his. “Today when you told me that you loved my brother, I believed you. And I felt as though my heart were shattering in my chest. I realized that I don’t want you to marry anyone else. Through all these years you’ve always been MINE. I never realized what that meant until today. Your plan to make Yuri jealous had an unexpected side-effect Yozak – it made me jealous, as well. I couldn’t stand the fact that I was going to lose you. Even though I’ve never really had you, because of my own stupidity.”

Yozak felt as though he couldn’t breathe. He stared helplessly up into those steady, honest brown eyes, and he couldn’t believe that this was happening. He’d waited so long, and so hopelessly, to hear words like this coming out of Konrad’s mouth. He was trembling faintly as he asked: “Are you sure?”

Konrad’s smile was gentle and transcendently beautiful. “Yes,” he replied simply, before he leaned over to softly kiss Yozak on the mouth.

Yozak was taken aback by this move, but not for long. He moaned as he reached up to grasp the back of Konrad’s neck, pulling him more deeply into the kiss. He pushed his tongue into Konrad’s mouth, tasting its sweetness, as Konrad gasped in his throat at the sensation. When Yozak finally pulled back from the kiss to look into dazed brown eyes, he felt his heart swelling with emotion. “By Shinou, I love you so much, Commander,” he said with all of the feeling that he’d kept bottled up inside of himself for so long.

Konrad smiled tenderly as he put up a hand to trace one of Yozak’s cheekbones. “Don’t you think you should stop calling me that?” he remarked with laughter in his voice. “I don’t think ‘Commander’ is the proper term to call the man you love, is it?”

Yozak chuckled as he reached out to pull a slightly-surprised Konrad onto his lap. “You’re so right,” he said, nuzzling his nose into the hair behind Konrad’s ear. “How about I call you 'Snuggle Bunny' instead?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some fun sexy time and a proposal.

“Konrad?”

“Mmm?” Konrad couldn’t make any more coherent enquiry, because he was having trouble concentrating. Yozak was licking the side of his neck, while his hands were busy unlacing the front of the short-sleeved leather tunic that Konrad was wearing. 

“Have you ever been with another man before?” Yozak asked, just before he gently bit Konrad’s earlobe.

Konrad gasped. “Nooo,” he moaned as Yozak’s clever fingers finished with the lacings and pushed the tunic off of him. He’d been with a few women, but never a man before.

Yozak nodded against his neck. “I thought so. I guess it’s a good thing that one of us knows what he’s doing,” he said laughingly, as he yanked the long-sleeved linen shirt off of Konrad in a single movement. He tossed it away, bowing his head to nip at Konrad’s collarbone, even as he slid his hands up the knight's bare chest to pinch his nipples lightly.

The knight squirmed in his lap at the sensation, nearly sending Yozak through the roof. He groaned against his lover’s shoulder, lapping at the elegant collarbone within reach of his tongue. The spy used his thumbs to stroke over the erect nipples, loving the gasps and moans he drew from his partner’s throat. The orange-haired man raised his head to claim Konrad’s sweet mouth again, feasting on him even as he abandoned the knight's nipples with one hand and slid it downward over his leanly-muscled abdomen toward his still-clothed lap. Yozak took in Konrad’s choked cry of desire when his hand closed over the bulge in the other man's breeches and began to stroke lightly over it. 

Konrad broke the kiss as his head went back. “Please,” he nearly whimpered as Yozak’s fingers traced circles over his still cloth-clad erection. 

“You want something, baby?” Yozak asked him silkily, never stopping the motion of his fingers. Konrad’s hips lifted in a begging motion, trying to offer himself to his new lover. 

Yozak took pity on him. He slid his other hand down to begin undoing the laces on his breeches. Konrad gasped loudly as Yozak finally freed his trapped erection. One strong hand closed over it, as the other began pushing the breeches off of his hips. The spy ran a tongue along Konrad’s jawline as he began to move his hand. He stroked the long, elegant cock he held in his hand from root to tip. Yozak enjoyed the soft cries he was driving from Konrad’s lips as he finished pushing the breeches down off of the knight's hips and upper thighs. His free hand caressed slim but muscular thighs, and then moved upward to begin stroking Konrad’s balls in time with the movement of his other hand.

Konrad’s eyes were closed, and he’d flushed a deep, dark red. His hips bucked off of Yozak’s lap desperately, and his cries were becoming loud and unmodulated. Yozak spoke into his ear: “You should come, baby. It’s been a long time since you were with anyone, hasn’t it?” Konrad was barely coherent enough to nod slightly. It had, indeed, been a long time. Yozak wanted to get that first pent-up orgasm out of the way so that he could take his time over his new lover afterward.

He continued his steady stroking, running his thumb over the leaking tip as Konrad’s body shuddered at the feel. He rolled the knight's balls in his fingers, palming them with care. Konrad was close. He could feel his muscles straining, as he was worked up to orgasm by Yozak’s clever hands and his soft kisses along his neck and jaw. He felt the spy begin to suckle his earlobe as the orange-haired man's fingers tightened a bit on his cock. It was too much. He came with a loud cry, his hips jerking frantically, as Yozak slung an arm over his back to hold him as he went limp in the aftermath of his rather wild orgasm.

Yozak held a panting, languid Konrad in his arms as he smiled down on that flushed, lovely face. Using one arm to brace Konrad, he lifted the other one and began to lick the knight's come off of his fingers. His lover opened a pair of still rather glazed brown eyes, and moaned a little when he saw what Yozak was doing. The soldier/spy grinned at him as he continued to swipe at his fingers with his own tongue. “It’s sweet,” he said to Konrad. “Just like the rest of you.” Konrad shuddered faintly at his words, and at the vision of Yozak licking his fingers in lazy satisfaction.

When he was done, Yozak bent his head and softly kissed Konrad on the mouth. The knight tasted himself faintly in Yozak’s mouth, furrowing his brows a little over the taste. The spy smiled a little at his lover's expression when he lifted his head again. He lifted Konrad off of his lap and set him down on the bed. Then he got to his feet to unlace his tawny leather shirt and pull it off over his head. Finally, Yozak divested himself of the black undershirt. Konrad watched him from the bed, admiring the play of muscles in that broad chest,which was covered with acres of pale skin. He’d seen Yozak naked before, of course, but never in a situation like this. He dropped his eyes to stare at the other man’s erection, seeing that it was shorter but thicker than his own and curved slightly. Yozak’s smile was sultry as he ran a hand down his own stomach to take a hold of his cock. He stroked it slowly, making Konrad pant breathlessly as he watched. 

Unable to resist the lure of those desire clouded brown eyes, Yozak joined Konrad on the bed. He pushed the knight back on the quilt and laid his own naked body over the top of him, drawing a moan from his throat as their erections rubbed together. He began to kiss Konrad again, burying his fingers in the soft brown mass of hair to hold his head in place, as their tongues tangled together. He finally abandoned Konrad’s mouth, to a soft moan of disappointment. Yozak kissed his way down his lover’s neck once more, moving backward. Konrad gasped and buried his fingers in the unruly orange hair as Yozak’s tongue slid out to run over his chest in a wet trail. When his mouth closed over one peaked nipple, the knight could only arch his back helplessly at the feel.

Biting tenderly at the rucked nub, Yozak began to kiss his way down Konrad’s stomach. The muscles jumped under his tongue as it ran over the soft skin, and then traced a sword scar near the hip. He suckled at his lover’s hip bone as one of his hands began to stroke a thigh insistently. Konrad’s hands grasped at his shoulders, as the orange-haired man slid sideways and began to approach his erection. He made a begging noise in his throat, lifting his hips to offer himself to Yozak’s warm, moist mouth. Deciding to give him what he wanted so desperately, Yozak finally took Konrad’s cock into his mouth and began to suck at it with gentle intensity. Konrad was nearly mindless at the feel of Yozak’s talented mouth on him. He bucked his hips to drive himself deeper into that insistent mouth, moaning loudly in pleasure at the sensation. 

Yozak swirled his tongue around the sensitive tip of Konrad’s cock, then lapped at it like a dog. He held the base of it in one hand, stroking the lower half while he attended to the head. He could see that he was working his lover up to another orgasm, and he abandoned the knight's cock ruthlessly. Konrad groaned out a questioning sound, as Yozak got up onto his knees and began to urge Konrad to turn over onto his hands and knees. He knelt on the quilt, wondering dimly why Yozak had had him turn over, until he felt Yozak’s mouth begin to kiss and bite its way from his shoulders down his back. He moaned and gasped as that mouth left a wet trail down his spine, finally reaching the small of his back. His arms and legs threatened to buckle, as Yozak began to caress his buttocks with his hands even as he bit and licked at the tender skin. 

Leisurely Yozak parted his buttocks with his hands, and ran his tongue down between the cheeks. Konrad gave a strangled scream as that wicked tongue ran over the delicate puckered ring of his anus, and pushed his hips back at Yozak wildly. Over and over Yozak licked at him, and Konrad felt as though his brain were melting. No one had ever done this it him before...he’d never imagined that anything could feel so good…and then Yozak’s tongue pushed into his body, and he lost it altogether. He panted and cried out, his hips gyrating as Yozak fucked him with his tongue. When Yozak finally withdrew it with a last swipe, his arms did buckle under him. He fell face forward onto the quilt, panting heavily. 

Yozak smiled down at the sight of his lover, sprawled in an annihilated heap on top of the bed. He left the bed briefly to rummage in his backpack, for a jar of scented oil that he kept in it at all times. While he'd kept his heart for Konrad, he had had nothing against sharing out his body often with willing partners. He loved pleasure, both the giving and the receiving of it. He returned to the bed to find Konrad stirring a bit, coming down a little from the mind-blowing pleasure. Yozak slid onto the bed behind him and opened the jar, dipping his fingers into it. Konrad started to croak his name, and then gasped as he felt a single slick finger begin to push into his body.

That finger wormed its way inside of him, probing and caressing him. It was a strange sensation, to have his body invaded in this way, but he held still and tried to get used to it. He knew that soon enough something much bigger than that finger would enter him. And while he wanted that to happen desperately, he was also somewhat apprehensive about the whole act. He trusted Yozak completely, though, so he tried to relax and let him do what he would. He felt the finger begin it move in and out of him, and gave a soft, nearly noiseless moan at the feeling. It was good. Even when a second finger joined the first he didn’t protest. He was starting to enjoy the sensation as Yozak’s other hand stroked his ass and thighs caressingly. 

When Yozak added a third finger he hissed a little at the sting. “Just relax,” Yozak soothed him, never stopping the motion of his fingers inside of the knight. “It gets better, baby, I promise.”

Konrad concentrated on relaxing his muscles. Soon, those fingers withdrew, and Yozak tenderly turned his lover over on the bed once more. Konrad found himself looking up into a pair of flame-blue eyes, that burned with both lust and love in equal measure as Yozak slid between his legs and lifted them over his shoulders. He continued to meet Yozak’s eyes as the soldier took his own oil-slicked cock in hand and began to prod at the entrance into Konrad’s body. “I love you,” Yozak said as he pushed the tip of himself into him.

Konrad felt his heart swell at these words, even as he gritted his teeth a little at the sensation of pain and fullness. Yozak stopped completely, letting the knight get used to the sensation of having someone inside of himself. His hands caressed Konrad’s thighs, as he never broke eye contact with the man under him. The spy felt his muscles relax a bit, and Yozak pushed another inch of himself into his lover's body. He gasped at the feeling of fullness and the burning sensation that went along with it, as Yozak slid a hand down to begin to stroke his wilting cock. The hand on his returning erection helped to take his mind off of what was happening, and he relaxed even more as Yozak worked all of himself inside of him. The knight stayed still while the orange-haired man continued to lightly stroke him. Yozak enjoyed both the feel of the tight, hot passage clasping at his cock and the look in the beautiful brown eyes that stared up at him. 

Finally, Konrad’s eyes fluttered close and his breathing began to pick up. He lifted his hips a bit, seeking movement, and Yozak pulled back a little and thrust into him. He moaned quietly as his lover began to move in him slowly but surely, steadily building up the pace of his thrusting. Yozak ground his teeth a bit as he moved, loving the sensation of pushing into that clinging, tight place within his lover’s body. The friction was beginning to make pleasure build up in Konrad’s body, and he lifted his hips in time with each of Yozak’s powerful thrusts. It was building up in him, so strong, and then the tip of Yozak’s cock hit something within him that made an explosion go off behind his eyes. He cried out, as he jerked off the bed wildly. Yozak groaned as he changed the angle of his thrusts to hit that spot every time, his hips slapping against his partner’s ass and thighs as he drove into the knight hard and fast. His orgasm was gathering inside of him, he was going to come…he reached down to take Konrad’s cock in hand once more, stroking it harshly as he drove into him. 

Konrad came with a harsh scream of pleasure, his orgasm pulled from him by Yozak’s cock and hand. He spurted out over the spy's hand and his own stomach, as Yozak continued to thrust into him wildly. He heard a loud groan as Yozak’s cock jerked inside of him, the orange-haired man driven to his own coming by the feel of Konrad’s internal muscles closing over him like a fist. He went limp, his body shuddering, as Yozak half-collapsed over him. That orange head hung down as his chest labored with his panting breaths. “Oh, Shinou,” gasped Yozak.

Konrad had no idea how much time passed, as he lay there enjoying the aftermath of pleasure. He lazily opened his eyes after awhile, seeing that Yozak still hadn’t moved either. He reached up with a faintly trembling hand to stroke the unruly orange hair, and that pair of flame-blue eyes opened to smile down at him with a look of deep satisfaction in their depths. Yozak withdrew himself from his body at last, and Konrad gave a soft sound of disappointment. He’d enjoyed the feel of Yozak within him as he came down from the high of his orgasm, and he didn’t want the feeling to end. The spy moved around on the bed to the side of him, and turned him so that he could pull the knight's back up against his chest. Yozak buried his nose in Konrad’s sweat-dampened hair and closed his eyes, taking in the scent of it.

After another while Konrad became aware of two urges. One, he wanted to go and clean himself up. His semen was drying on his stomach, and the feeling made him grimace. And two, he wanted to ask Yozak an important question. “Yozak?” he said, deciding to deal with the second urge first.

“Hmmm?”

“Now that you’ve had your way with me, are you going to make an honest man of me?” there was humor and tenderness in Konrad’s voice.

Yozak’s eyes flew open. He lifted up a bit so that he could look down on the man who’d rolled his head to stare up at him with gentle brown eyes. "What?” he said, wondering if he’d heard correctly.

Konrad tilted his head a little so that his left cheek was displayed. “You’ve bedded me, now you must wed me,” he said as his eyes crinkled at the corners.

Yozak drew breath in a sharp gasp. “You can’t be serious,” he said, his eyes wide.

Konrad’s brows drew together in puzzlement. Yozak looked upset about something. He rolled a bit so that he could sit up and turn toward the spy. “What is it?” he asked in puzzlement. "What’s wrong?”

Yozak turned his head away. “You can’t want to marry me,” he rasped.

“Of course I do,” Konrad replied, as his puzzlement deepened. He reached out to touch Yozak’s shoulder.

The orange-haired soldier wouldn’t look at him. “But you can’t,” he insisted.

“Why not?”

“Because…” Yozak did turn to look at him now and his blue eyes were urgent. “You, you come from one of the highest families in the Kingdom. And me, I’m…” he turned his face away once more. “Nothing,” he spat.

He was shocked when a hand grasped the side of his face and turned him to meet a pair of angry brown eyes. The other hand came around in a slap to his left cheek that was going to leave a mark, as Konrad snarled at him, “Don’t you ever call yourself that again!” 

He let go of Yozak’s chin, and the astonished spy put up a hand to cover the throbbing spot where Konrad had hit him. He stared at his former commander with wide blue eyes. He’d never seen the man this angry before. 

Konrad crossed his arms over his chest as he met that startled blue gaze head on. “If you ever speak about yourself like that again, I’ll kick your ass from here to Shin Makoku,” he growled. “The man I love is not, and has never been nothing. Now are you going to accept my proposal, or do I have to go looking for a knife to drop so that I can beat you in a duel? Because we both know that you wouldn’t stand a chance against me.” 

Yozak gaped at him for a moment. Then he began to laugh, a deep throaty chuckle. His eyes flared with humor and love. “It seems I have no choice,” he said, beginning to grin.

“That’s right,” Konrad replied firmly.

He leaned forward to kiss his betrothed on the mouth gently, sealing the bargain. When he lifted his head, his brown eyes gleaming triumphantly, Yozak cupped his chin. “My heart,” he said tenderly, “you are a wonder.”

“My heart?” Konrad repeated, cocking his head a little at the endearment. 

“That’s right. I call ‘em as I see ‘em.” Yozak engulfed him in his arms, resting his head against Konrad’s shoulder. “I’m going to be just as jealous a spouse as the Prince, you know,” he said against Konrad’s skin.

“Is that so?”

“That’s right. No other man better so much as look at you. They’ll have to understand that you belong to me.”

Konrad smiled as he kissed the top of that unruly mane of orange hair. “That’s right,” he agreed softly. “I do.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri has a nightmare, then experiences a dream come true...

Wolfram awoke to the sounds of Yuri having a nightmare. He sat up in his bed groggily, seeing that it was early morning, and that dawn was beginning to filter through the shutters. The blonde boy turned toward the other bed, seeing Yuri curled up in a ball there. The Maou was whimpering and crying out in his sleep. Concerned, he pushed back his covers and padded barefoot over the floor toward the other bed. “Yuri,” he said softly as he approached, trying to use his voice to reassure the Maou.

Yuri jerked when he spoke, crying out “No!” audibly. His face rolled on the pillow and Wolfram was shocked to see tears dripping down his cheeks. What was Yuri dreaming about that was making him cry in his sleep?

The blonde boy climbed onto the bed to touch his beloved’s shoulder gently. “Yuri,” he murmured, his fingers stroking the linen fabric of the shirt that was the only article of clothing that Yuri was wearing.

Yuri was having a terrible dream. In it, he was standing on the steps of Blood Pledge Castle watching Wolfram ride away. The blonde prince never looked back as he receded away toward the gates. Yuri knew that he’d never come back, and the Maou screamed desperately after him: “Wolfram! Please don’t leave me!” but the boy still didn’t turn around, and Yuri sank to his knees and wept as he watched the most important thing in his life ride away forever.

Wolfram felt Yuri’s body tremble. He slid under the covers against the other boy’s back, putting his arms around the Maou tightly. “I’m here, Yuri, I’m here,” he said tenderly, resting his chin on Yuri’s shoulder. “It’s all right.”

His voice penetrated Yuri’s dreaming mind. In the dream, he looked up as a pair of boots appeared in his line of vision. He saw Wolfram standing over him, smiling. The blonde prince put out a hand, and Yuri eagerly reached up to take it. He was pulled to his feet, and then the dream Wolfram stepped closer to him and leaned forward to kiss him on the mouth…

Wolfram felt Yuri relax. His breathing evened out, and his body stopped trembling. The black-haired boy sighed happily, and when he craned his head he could see that a small smile now graced Yuri’s lips. Pleased that whatever nightmare had been torturing Yuri seemed to be over, Wolfram laid his head against Yuri’s shoulder and closed his eyes. He knew he should go back to his own bed now, but this felt too good. He’d been sleeping with Yuri for months now, and the warmth of his body was a familiar pleasure. Wolfram closed his eyes and dozed off, before he could work up the energy to get out of the bed and go back to his own. 

 

Yuri awoke hours later, feeling a familiar presence lying against his back. He was nearly off the bed and he mumbled "Wolfram,” irritably as he used as elbow to fend off the insistent body trying to push him out of the bed altogether. 

It was only as his brain came to full wakefulness that he realized how odd the situation was. Wolfram was going to be engaged to Yozak, the blonde boy wasn’t his anymore…so why was he sleeping in Yuri’s bed? The Maou opened his eyes and twisted his head a bit, to see Wolfram’s peacefully sleeping face resting on the pillow behind him. The prince's gold lashes lay against his porcelain cheeks, and his soft, rose-colored mouth was slightly open as he breathed deeply. Yuri pushed himself slowly to a sitting position, and sat looking down on the radiant angel slumbering away beside him. He really didn’t care at this point how Wolfram had come to be in his bed. He hugged his knees to his chest, as the thought that this was the last time he’d ever see Wolfram like this shot through him. He made a pained sound in the back of his throat, and rested his head atop his knees.

He sat there like that for a short time, trying to fight the depression and sadness that coursed through him. He blinked back tears, wishing that Wolfram would call him a wimp, scornfully, as he usually did. The word had become a kind of endearment, and he’d gotten used to it. There were so many things that he’d gotten used to, that he wouldn’t have anymore. Yuri bit his lip as a faint sob shook his body. The sound made Wolfram stir beside him and murmur in his sleep. He opened his eyes, and turned his head to look down at Wolfram’s sleeping face once more.

He was so beautiful. Yuri felt stirrings inside of him, feelings that he’d never really had before. An urge to touch Wolfram came over him so strong that he couldn’t fight it. He lifted a hand and reached down tentatively to touch Wolfram’s cheek, feeling the soft skin under his hand. It felt like silk, and he lightly stroked his fingers over it in a kind of awe. Yuri's eyes fixed on Wolfram’s mouth, and he found himself bending at the waist to lower his head toward Wolfram. Awkwardly he touched his lips to the prince's, kissing him for the very first time. He didn’t know quite what to do, having no experience with kissing, so he remained still and just let his lips lie over Wolfram’s. He could feel the blonde's soft breaths on his mouth, and the feeling made him shiver.

He finally lifted his head, afraid that he’d wake Wolfram up. But now his urges had seized him, and he couldn’t seem to stop himself. Yuri reached down to grab the covers and pull them slowly down, baring Wolfram’s slender form to his gaze. The blonde prince wore the same thing he was wearing, his long-sleeved linen shirt as a nightshirt. The shirt had twisted up, and was bunched around his upper thighs. Yuri drew in a sharp breath when he saw the long, slender, bare legs exposed to his hungry eyes. He reached out a hand that was faintly trembling to touch the skin of one long, lean, muscular thigh, hearing Wolfram sigh a little in his sleep at the feel of that hand stroking slightly over his skin. 

Yuri was entranced by what he was doing. Wolfram felt so good, soft and hard at the same time, and his breathing began to pick up as he slid his hand further up Wolfram’s thigh, toward the edge of the bunched-up shirt. His eyes flashed to Wolfram’s face, but the prince was still asleep. He knew he shouldn’t be doing this, but he seemed to have been seized by some demon spirit that wouldn’t let him stop. Had he but known it, that demon’s name was sexuality, and it had stirred to life in his breast with a vengeance. Yuri was feeling the first stirrings of desire, his young body coming alive like a dormant seed at the first touch of spring. His heart began to nearly race, as his hand began to push the shirt further up Wolfram’s thigh, slowly but surely baring the blonde boy’s lower body to his gaze.

Unbeknownst to him, Wolfram was awake. He’d come awake at the first touch of Yuri’s hand on his thigh, and he’d started to speak. But when he realized what the Maou was doing, he froze in shock. He didn’t want the other boy to stop, and he knew that Yuri would if he knew that Wolfram was awake. So he stayed still, and tried to breathe lightly and evenly as though he were still sleeping. He opened his emerald eyes just a tiny bit, peering down his body toward Yuri out of the slits. He had to fight back a gasp, as Yuri pushed his shirt up around his waist, and he began to pant very slightly. He was so excited already that he was having trouble not moving. He wanted to push his hips at Yuri, to offer himself to him. It took every ounce of control he had not to do so.

Yuri stared at Wolfram’s body. The slim hips, flat belly, and, between his legs…the black-eyed boy was fascinated to see that Wolfram was excited, his slender cock hard, and lying nearly against his belly. His fine pubic hair was curly, and as gold as the hair on his head. His eyes fastened on Wolfram’s erection, which was flushed a faint rose color. A drop of moisture appeared at the tip, and he reached out a finger very carefully to gather it up. When the fingertip touched the head of his penis, Wolfram made a small sound as a groan was trapped in his throat. Oh, Shinou! Yuri was touching him…he didn’t know how much longer he could stand this. 

Yuri looked at his own fingertip in fascination, studying the nearly clear drop of liquid. He sniffed at it curiously, but it had very little smell. He looked at Wolfram, but the blonde's eyes were still closed, and he still appeared to be asleep. Rubbing the drop of pre-cum into his fingertips, Yuri reached out to once more touch Wolfram’s cock. He felt his own body flushing and tightening at the feel of it under his fingers, so soft and hard at the same time. He ran his fingers along the length of it, and was surprised when it twitched in his fingers. Wolfram made a soft sound in his throat, but slept on. Or so the Maou thought, not knowing that the prince was being driven nearly crazy by his tentative explorations. Wolfram bit his lip until it was nearly bloody to try to contain himself.

Yuri tightened his fingers a bit, beginning to instinctively rub Wolfram’s erection as he moved the foreskin back and forth in fascinated interest. His other hand moved down to cup the prince’s balls lightly, and Wolfram gasped aloud. He couldn’t help himself…he was going mad…the feel of Yuri’s hands on his body, touching him in this most intimate of ways…his brain felt like it was going to explode. Fortunately for him, Yuri was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn’t hear the sound Wolfram made, or notice how the prince’s muscles were beginning to strain as he fought his instinctive wish to buck his hips up toward that caressing hand. 

How much longer Wolfram could have held out was uncertain, but it didn’t matter. Yuri’s thumb swept over the sensitive tip of Wolfram’s cock in an instinctive gesture, even as his other hand began to move the prince’s balls in their sac, as he felt their weight and the texture of the wrinkled skin. This was too much for poor Wolfram. He cried out loudly as he came all over Yuri’s hand, pushing his hips forward as his body shuddered with the force of his coming. The Maou jumped back in shock, seeing Wolfram’s dazed emerald eyes were wide open and staring at him. His rosy mouth was open as well, as he fought desperately for breath. A soft pink flush had spread out over his cheeks. He was exquisite in the wake of his pleasure, and Yuri forgot for a moment that Wolfram would be mad at him for what he’d just done, as he was captivated by the sight.

“yuurii,” Wolfram moaned breathlessly.

Yuri jumped. “I’m sorry,” he stuttered quickly, his eyes wide. “I’m really sorry, Wolf. I-I don’t know why I did that…”

Wolfram pushed himself slowly to his hands and knees, never breaking eye contact with Yuri. “Don’t be sorry, Yuri,” he rasped in a voice gone low and hoarse from sleep and desire. “It was wonderful. Do you know how long I’ve waited for you to do something like that?”

Yuri gaped at him. He almost felt as though he were still dreaming, because it didn’t seem possible that Wolfram was saying these things to him, and in such a sultry tone of voice. 

“Y-you have?” he squeaked as Wolfram began to crawl over the quilt toward him, in a snake-like manner that made his breathing begin to pant out of his chest.

“Yes,” Wolfram replied simply. 

“B-But what about Y-Yozak?” Yuri asked, frozen in place as Wolfram slid up to him, and reached out to touch his cheek with one slender hand. 

“What about him?” Wolfram said with a slow, sexy smile.

“You…he,” Yuri didn’t seem capable of actually speaking right at that moment. He was lost in Wolfram’s deep emerald eyes, entranced by what he saw in their depths.

“There’s nothing between us, Yuri,” Wolfram replied. “I only told you that I wanted to marry him because I knew that you didn’t love me. I wanted to make you jealous, to see if you cared for me at all. Because I love you so much, Yuri, and it broke my heart that you didn’t feel anything for me in return.”

Yuri’s breath went out of him in a shocked gasp. “You love me,” he repeated dazedly.

Wolfram nodded, meeting his eyes steadily. “I have for a long time, Yuri. And it hurt me so much that all you ever did was complain about being engaged to me, that you didn’t want me…” a tear ran from his eye down his porcelain cheek, and Yuri’s heart hurt at the sight.

He hugged Wolfram close, burying his face in the soft golden curls. “I’m so sorry, Wolf,” he said fiercely. “I’m just so stupid. I couldn’t see…I didn’t know…but yesterday when you said you loved somebody else I thought I was going to die. I do love you, Wolf. I realized that yesterday, and it was killing me that it was too late. I don’t want to lose you, not ever. Please say that you’ll still marry me. I’ll marry you tomorrow if you’ll stay with me,” he whispered brokenly.

Wolfram tightened his arms around Yuri, as joy coursed through him. “of course I’ll marry you, Yuri,” he said in a voice choked with emotion. “That’s all I want is to be your husband. And to be a father to Greta and any other children we decide to adopt. Before you came to this world, I was so miserable. I was a spoiled brat, but it was because I was so unhappy. I didn’t know what I wanted; I just knew that I was missing something in my life. Something important. And when I saw you that first day I recognized you as the part that I’d been looking for for a long time. I was so glad, even though I seemed angry. I was just scared, that was all. When you slapped me it felt right. Perfect, in fact.”

Yuri raised his head to blink at the blonde. "But you dueled me!” he protested. “I thought it was because you hated me!”

Wolfram smiled tenderly at him, reaching up a hand to cup his cheek. “You were the one who picked up your knife, don’t forget,” he pointed out in amusement. “Plus, I was angry at you because you had only proposed to me by accident. You just didn’t know the custom,” he sobered as sadness flashed through his large eyes. “You didn’t really want me. That’s why I dueled you. I was furious about that. And then you won, and you didn’t break the engagement or punish me. I was just so confused…I thought that if I waited long enough and I loved you, that you’d come to love me, too. But then that never seemed to happen, and my heart broke a little more every day…” he looked away, pain eloquent in every line of his body.

“Oh, Wolf,” Yuri pulled the Prince close to himself once more. “I can never say ‘I’m sorry’ enough,” he said. “But somehow I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

Wolfram choked back a sob that was half a laugh as well. “You don’t have to make anything up to me Yuri,” he said. “Just hearing you say that you love me, that you need me…that’s enough. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to hear.” He turned his head and kissed Yuri’s ear, making his fiancé gasp a little at the sensation.

“Now about what you just did to me…” Wolfram purred into that ear. 

Yuri blushed bright red at this reminder. “I-I’m sorry,” he stammered.

Wolfram chuckled. “For what?” he asked, as his hands began to slide over Yuri’s shoulders. “It was great. You can do that to me again anytime you like, Yuri.” 

“Okay,” Yuri gasped, as Wolfram began to plant small kisses along his jaw line. Those slender hands ran down over the linen shirt and grabbed the hem, and the Maou gasped even more loudly as he was ruthlessly divested of this article of clothing. 

“wolfram,” he moaned as the prince ran his hands over the now bared skin of Yuri’s chest, his fingertips stroking over Yuri’s nipples until they hardened into peaks. 

“Do you ever touch yourself, Yuri?” Wolfram said throatily in his ear as his hands began to drift even further south.

“W-What?” Yuri could barely get the question out. Those slim fingers were tracing over his stomach muscles, moving lower and lower…

“You know, here,” Wolfram said as one of his hands closed over Yuri’s erection.

“Ahhh!” Yuri threw his head back as Wolfram's fingers began to move. “Wolf…what are you…oh, Gods, that feels good!”

“I’ll take that as a ‘no,’ ” Wolfram replied to Yuri’s fevered cries. “You’re such a wimp, Yuri. I can’t believe you’ve never done this to yourself before,” he stroked in a leisurely fashion at the quivering cock between Yuri’s tensed thighs, delighting in the noises he was drawing from his beloved’s throat. A gargling moan was Yuri’s only response. Wolfram smiled as he began to work Yuri up to coming, loving the fact that he was going to be the one to give his fiancé his first ever orgasm. He drank in the sight of Yuri’s beet-red face, and the way his eyes were screwed closed as he panted desperately for breath. Yuri’s hips were lunging upward, as he pushed himself into Wolfram’s caressing hand wildly. 

He was close. Tenderly Wolfram stroked his back and ass with one hand, as he tightened his grip on Yuri’s cock with the other, and Yuri screamed out: “Wolf! I-I’m going t-to…uhhh!!” Yuri’s back arched helplessly, as the pleasure of his first ever orgasm ran through his body like wildfire. He was reduced to a trembling, quivering mass as Wolfram held him up with a hand across his shoulders. His huge eyes were glazed, and all of his muscles were limp. Wolfram felt both pride and pleasure to have reduced his lover to this state with just his hand. Especially since he didn’t have much more experience than Yuri, except with his own hand. 

Wolfram bent down to kiss Yuri’s sweat beaded forehead. “I love you, Yuri,” he said with all of the intensity of his fiery nature.

Yuri’s eyes finally came back into focus. He blinked up at his fiancé, and smiled that sweet, dazzling smile that always made Wolfram go weak at the knees. “And I love you, Wolf,” he replied happily. The two boys remained where they were for a long time, both of them content just to be with the other. This, Wolfram felt, was how it should be. He’d known that ever since he’d first seen Yuri in the courtyard of Blood Pledge Castle, just after he’d been tossed off of his horse. The universe finally made sense once more.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Congratulations are in order. And Yuri asked Yozak for some advice...

It was a much happier group that gathered at the table for breakfast. Yozak and Konrad arrived first, Yozak with his arm slung around his fiancé’s waist. Konrad’s face was mellow, despite the fact that he was limping a bit. He grimaced, as he sat down gingerly on one of the chairs. Yozak patted his hand sympathetically. “Sorry, baby,” he said.

Konrad shook his head. “It’s fine,” he said, and it was. He didn’t mind a little discomfort this morning, not after last night. He had returned Yozak’s enthusiasm completely, although by the third time he’d felt nearly wrung out from the seemingly endless pleasure that Yozak’s hands and lips and cock had pulled from him. He’d fallen almost immediately into an exhausted deep sleep afterward, and he was grateful that Yozak had apparently cleaned him up before he, too, succumbed to sleep. 

Yozak dug into the food with a hearty appetite. Konrad, who was usually a light eater in the mornings, found himself eating almost as much as his betrothed. He was starving, and he saw Yozak grin at him as he nearly wolfed his food. They were almost finished eating when Yuri and Wolfram entered the room. 

Konrad’s eyebrows went up a little when he saw the two boys. They were holding hands, and there was a glow on his brother’s face that made him look even more beautiful than normal. A small, pleased smile slid over Konrad’s mouth, and his brown eyes were full of tender affection as he gazed at the two boys. He heard Yozak chuckle next to him. “Looks like it worked, after all,” he heard his fiancé say in a low voice. He nodded quietly.

“Good morning, Heika, Wolfram,” was all Konrad said aloud. 

“Good morning, Konrad,” Yuri said, looking as though he thought it was a very good morning, indeed. Wolfram only smiled at his sibling, a happy smile that made Konrad want to get up and go hug his baby brother. 

“Great to see that you finally pulled your head out of your ass, kid,” Yozak said cheerfully to Yuri, as he looked meaningfully at the boys' joined hands.

Yuri blushed a little. “Yeah,” he said. “And thanks, Yozak. Wolf told me that it was your idea to make me jealous.”

Yozak grinned at him. “No problem, kid. I’m just glad it worked out. For both of us,” he added to Wolfram, which made his emerald eyes flash to his brother’s face. 

“You mean…?” he asked hopefully, and Yozak nodded as he slung an arm over Konrad’s shoulders. 

“It looks like we’re going to be related by marriage, kiddo,” he told Wolfram, with pardonable pride. Konrad shot him a sideways look, in which exasperation and affection were mingled together.

Yuri’s brows drew together in puzzlement, as Wolfram excitedly clapped his hands together and said “Yes! That’s wonderful!” 

Huh?” the Maou said, looking from his fiancé to Yozak questioningly.

Wolfram turned to him excitedly. “Yozak and Konrad are getting married!” he told Yuri happily.

Yuri’s jaw dropped. “Yozak…and Konrad?!” he exclaimed, turning to stare at his godfather and friend in amazement. “Really?” he asked Konrad in disbelief.

Konrad only smiled at him gently, as he put his hand over Yozak’s. “Yes, that’s right.” He paused as he studied Yuri’s face. “You’re not upset about this, are you, Yuri?” 

Yuri scratched at his head. “Uh, no,” he said. “It’s just kinda weird. I didn’t know that you and Yozak…” he shot a look at the orange-haired spy, who grinned and winked at him. 

“Up until yesterday, I didn’t know, either,” Konrad replied ruefully. “You see, Yuri, Yozak’s plan to make you jealous by making you believe that he was going to marry Wolfram had a side effect. It made me jealous, as well. I found that I didn’t want him to marry Wolfram, any more than you wanted Wolfram to marry him. It made me think about the way that I felt about him. I realized that I thought of him as more than just a friend. So I confronted him last night, and he told me that he’s been in love with me for a long time. Don’t feel too bad about taking Wolfram for granted, Yuri. I’ve been taking someone for granted for decades.” He turned his brown eyes up to look at Yozak, who smiled tenderly down on him. Both boys found themselves nearly holding their breaths at the look that passed between the two men.

Yuri cleared his throat awkwardly. “Wow,” he said. “This has been a pretty weird couple of days.” He remarked. He looked at Wolfram, at the shining emerald eyes that gazed at him with such adoration, and he added, “But great. At least since this morning, anyway.” Wolfram smiled at him, and he momentarily lost his train of thought as he was pulled into those beautiful green eyes.

Yozak finally broke the spell when he said casually: “You kids should eat something, because we have to get on the road soon. We do still have to find that ring, after all.” His practical suggestion made Yuri and Wolfram remember that they were both young, growing boys, and they hurried over to serve themselves.

After the boys had eaten, they paid their bill and left the Inn. Yuri, moving along beside Wolfram, stared at the backs of the two men walking in front of him. “So you really don’t mind that Yozak’s gonna marry Konrad?” he asked Wolfram in a whisper.

His fiancé shook his head. “He told me yesterday when he came up with the plan that he was in love with my brother,” he said. “But he didn’t think that Konrad would ever return his feelings. I’m so glad that he does. I think that they’ll be good together.”

Yuri thought about that one. “Yeah, I think so, too,” he decided as Wolfram beamed at him. 

As they walked along, Yuri pondered a problem that he had. He wanted to…well…be with Wolfram, and he knew that Wolfram wanted that, too. But the problem was neither one of them had any experience. Nor did they share much knowledge between them about how to go about doing the deed. I mean, he knew the basic mechanics, but that was about it. He didn’t want to screw this up. What should he do? He pondered that question, until his eyes came to rest on Yozak’s back. That was it! He thought. That’s what I can do. I’ll ask Yozak for help. He’s with Konrad…and he’s gotta know more than I do. Hell, there are tube worms that know more about this than I do.

Feeling embarrassed but determined, Yuri raised his voice and called: "Yozak?”

The orange-haired spy looked over his shoulder at the black-haired boy. “Yeah? What is it, kid?”

“Can I...talk to you about something?” Yuri said, feeling his face get a little red, as Wolfram gave him a puzzled look. 

“Sure, what is it?” Yozak answered cheerfully.

“No…I mean…kinda in private,” Yuri replied anxiously. He shot Wolfram an apologetic look. "Could I talk to him alone?” he asked Wolfram, who gave him an astonished look.

“Okay,” Wolfram said, although he didn’t look all that happy about it. His curiousity was already working overtime, wondering what Yuri felt that he needed to talk to Yozak in private about.

Yozak exchanged a puzzled glance with Konrad. “Sure thing, kid,” he said, dropping back to match strides with Yuri. “Go and talk to your brother, Kiddo,” he directed Wolfram, who gave him an annoyed look but obeyed.

“So what’s this about?” he asked Yuri curiously.

Yuri shot him an acutely embarrassed look. “I…” he began as his face reddened even more. “I just wanted some…advice.”

Yozak raised an eyebrow. “Advice?” he repeated. “On what?”

“On how to…” Yuri shot a glance at his fiancé’s back up ahead of them. “I mean, Wolf and I want to…” he stopped again, feeling like he’d rather burrow into the ground, rather than continue this conversation.

Yozak was quick on the uptake, however. His lips twitched, as understanding passed through him. “So you and the Prince want to…umm… ‘get together’?” He said cheerfully.

Yuri nodded quickly. "But I…don’t know what to do...” he said on a sighing breath. “I mean, I sort of understand what’s supposed to go on, but that’s not the same as actually putting it into practice, is it?”

“No, definitely not,” Yozak agreed seriously, fighting back his laughter with an effort. His flame-blue eyes gleamed with his suppressed amusement, but fortunately Yuri was too embarrassed to look him in the eye. “So you want some practical advice on how to go about it, is that it?”

“Yeah,” Yuri replied. “I just figured that you know more about this whole thing than I do, so I was hoping…” he trailed off again, curling his fingers into his sweaty palms in acute discomfort.

Yozak clapped him on the shoulder, making him jump. “You’ve come to the right place, kid,” he said good-naturedly. “I’ll be happy to help.”

“You will?” Yuri felt relief spread through him.

“Of course. It’s not fair to let you two blunder around without any idea of what to do. So here goes…” Yozak began talking, while an at times fascinated, appalled, or astonished Yuri listened intently.

 

Up ahead of the two, Konrad and Wolfram were both feeling curious about the subject matter being discussed so intently between their men. Wolfram tried to strain his ears to catch what they were saying, but both of them were speaking in low tones. 

Frustrated, he eyed his brother. Then a look of concern crossed his face. “Why are you limping, Konrad?” he asked. “Did you hurt yourself?”

Konrad’s cheekbones took on a faintly red stain. “Uh, no,” he said, looking everywhere but at his little brother.

“But you’re limping,” Wolfram repeated insistently. “If you didn’t hurt yourself, why are you limping? Do you need a healer?”

At any other time Konrad would have been pleased over Wolfram’s obvious concern for him. But right at this moment he could have wished that his brother would ignore him, as he often did. He was being persistent enough that Konrad could see that he wouldn’t be put off. The knight sighed. “I didn’t hurt myself,” he repeated. “It’s just that…Yozak was…extremely enthusiastic last night,” he said, feeling his face heat even further, as he somehow forced himself to say these words to his baby brother.

Wolfram stared at him. Then as understanding of what Konrad had said occurred to him, he turned a rosy pink color. “Oh,” he said, feeling both horribly embarrassed and somewhat intrigued.

“What was it like?” he asked, desperately wanting to know about the act that he yearned to do with Yuri.

Konrad threw him a rather wild sideways glance. “It was...quite pleasant,” he replied in a rather choked tone of voice. He SO did not want to be having this conversation with his little brother.

While Wolfram was feeling just as uncomfortable, he couldn’t help himself. “So you liked it? It was good?” he continued, needing to know.

Konrad cleared his throat as he wondered if he shouldn’t just commit ritual suicide right at this moment, rather than continue to answer Wolfram’s questions. Falling on his sword was beginning to look like a pleasant option compared with this torture. “Yes,” he croaked. “Yes, I enjoyed it,” he said, thinking that that was a total understatement. But there was no way that he was going to go into details - especially not with Wolfram.

Wolfram couldn’t bring himself to ask anything more. His face felt like it was going to explode, and he was so embarrassed that he could barely breathe. He could see that Konrad was just as uncomfortable, maybe more, so he fell silent and looked away. Konrad sighed in relief, since he hadn’t been sure that he could have stood much more. But as he looked down at the golden curls of the boy walking beside him, he felt rather bad. It was obvious that Wolfram’s interest in the subject wasn’t prurient – he wanted to know out of personal interest. That wasn’t a surprise. Now that he and Yuri had made up, they’d no doubt want to…he almost groaned at the direction his thoughts were taking. He most definitely did not want to think about his baby brother having sex. 

They walked on in a tense, uneasy silence. Behind them, the intent conversation between Yuri and Yozak was winding down. “Thanks, Yozak,” Yuri said gratefully as the spy finished.

Yozak shrugged. “Always glad to help. And here,” he pulled his backpack off of his back and rummaged in it. He pulled out a stoppered jar which he handed to Yuri. 

“What’s this?" The Maou asked.

“Open it,” Yuri did. He caught a whiff of some kind of pleasant scent. “Put your finger in it,” Yozak said. Yuri gave him a skeptical look, and the orange-haired man chuckled at his expression. “It’s nothing bad,” Yozak assured him. Yuri tentatively stuck his finger in the jar, and pulled it out with some kind of oily substance on the tip.

“What’s this?” he asked again, looking at the stuff.

Yozak’s grin was evil. “It’s to smooth the way, so to speak,” he said with a wink.

Remembering some of the things that the spy had told him, Yuri blushed bright red when he realized what the stuff was for. "Oh,” he said, stoppering the jar once more. “Thanks. But don’t you need it?” he asked, cutting his eyes to Konrad’s back.

Yozak smiled. “I can buy some more in the next village we come to,” he replied. “Just about every shop sells the stuff.”

“Okay,” Nervously, Yuri took off his own backpack and stowed the jar in it. “Thanks again, Yozak,” he said.

“No problem at all. You’re going to be a brother-by-marriage soon, after all. And you always have to help out your family.” Yozak said, patting him on the shoulder.

That was true. Yuri realized that he was pleased by the fact that he was going to be related to Yozak. He liked the soldier/spy a great deal. He was funny and laid back, never taking life too seriously. “I wanted to say…congratulations, Yozak. I’m really glad that you’re going to marry Konrad.” He said sincerely.

The flame-blue eyes softened. “Thanks, kid.” He gave Yuri one last pat on the shoulder, and moved up to take his place beside Konrad again. “We’re all done,” Yuri heard him say to Wolfram. 

The Prince dropped back to walk beside his fiancé once again. “What was that about, Yuri?” he hissed in frustration, obviously being eaten up with curiosity.

Yuri shook his head. “It’s a secret,” he said, earning him a black stare. “I’m sorry,” he added, holding up a placating hand. “But it’s nothing bad, I promise, Wolf.”

Wolfram stared at his fiance. Then he relaxed. “All right, Yuri,” he said. “I trust you.” He said simply. 

Yuri felt a rush of warmth at these words, and put out his hand to take Wolfram’s. The blonde prince smiled at him softly, and the two boys walked hand-in-hand down the road together, both happy just to be with the other. Yuri for one couldn’t wait until tonight, when he could put the advice that Yozak had given him into practice. He tightened his hand on Wolfram’s, and wished that the day would just go faster.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yozak surprises Konrad.

"Yozak?”

“Hmmm?”

“What did Yuri want to talk to you about?”

Yozak looked up into Konrad’s face. He was lying stretched out on the ground with his back propped against a tree trunk, and Konrad was sitting cross-legged next to him. They’d stopped to eat the lunches that the Innkeeper had provided for them. Wolfram was sitting nearby with Yuri snuggled up next to him and Yuri’s head resting on his shoulder. Yozak was resting, letting his recently eaten lunch digest a bit. His arms were folded behind his neck. He grinned up at the curiosity he could see in his fiancé’s brown eyes. He knew that it must be eating the knight up by now.

Cheekily he tilted his head and drawled, “What if I told you that it was a secret?”

He snickered internally when Konrad merely nodded in acceptance of his words, and said no more. Shinou, his beloved was so gullible! But that was one of the things the spy thought was so cute about him, so he wasn’t going to object.“I only said ‘what if?’, you know,” he continued. “It’s not actually a secret.” 

Konrad looked surprised, glancing down into his betrothed’s merry face. “It’s not?”

Yozak shook his head. "No,” an unholy light began to burn deep in his flame blue eyes. “But if you want me to tell you we’d better go in there,” he sat up and pointed into the belt of trees behind them. "Because I don’t think that Yuri wants the Prince to know about it until tonight.”

Konrad accepted this explanation equitably, getting to his feet. Yozak grinned widely behind him, a look in the flame-blue eyes that did not bode well for Konrad. He got to his feet in a more leisurely fashion, and followed after Konrad as the brown-haired knight walked into the trees. Yozak's eyes were fastened on the ass of the man walking in front of him. The spy began to hum deep in his throat, a pleased sound full of humor. “Shouldn’t we tell the boys where we’re going?” Konrad asked over his shoulder.

Yozak shook his head. “They’re so into each other right now that I doubt that they’ll even notice that we’ve gone,” he said cheerfully. Konrad had to concede that this was true.

“Here is good,” Yozak said once they were deep enough in the trees that they were out of sight of both the road and the boys. Konrad turned toward him expectantly. “Yuri came to me for advice,” Yozak said without preamble.

Konrad cocked his head. “Advice? About what?” he asked, feeling a twinge of jealousy. Yuri usually came to him for advice, not Yozak. 

Yozak’s smile was faintly leering. “Well, it seems that the Maou wants to get down and dirty with your brother, but doesn’t have a clue as to how to go about it. So I had a little talk with him about it.”

Konrad gaped at him, as color rose into his cheeks. “You mean he wanted to know…” he began rather faintly.

Yozak nodded, amused by his reaction. “That’s right. I got pretty specific with him. Want to know what I told him?” he asked with a saucy tilt to his head, and a demonic grin on his face.

“No,” Konrad shook his head. “No, I really, really don’t…”

“Shinou, you’re cute when you get embarrassed,” Yozak said lasciviously. He began to walk towards his fiancé, his eyes burning. Konrad’s breath gasped out as he saw the look in Yozak’s eyes, and he took an uncertain step back.

 

"Here?” he squeaked. “Now?”

“That’s right. Here and now,” Yozak replied throatily. “I think we have time for a quickie.”

“But…” Konrad’s half-hearted protest was cut off as Yozak kissed him. He found himself with his back pushed up against a tree, and the spy's tongue dipping into his mouth. He moaned, all of his reservations flying out the window. He opened his mouth to that invading tongue, panting deep in his throat as he felt Yozak’s broad hands begin to slide down his tunic toward his groin.

Yozak abandoned his fiance's mouth, in favor of kissing the side of his neck. “You’ll have to be quiet,” he rasped to Konrad, lust and humor intermingled in his voice. “Or otherwise the boys will hear you...” he took a certain amount of sadistic pleasure in the way that Konrad’s head flew back, as his fingers closed over the bulge in the knight's breeches and began to stroke it relentlessly.

Konrad made a strangled sound in his throat, as Yozak knelt before him and began to unlace his breeches. He couldn’t believe that this was happening. There was no way that he and Yozak were doing this out here in the open where Yuri and /or Wolfram could happen along on them at any moment…he knew that he should protest, tell Yozak that he didn’t want to do this, but he couldn’t seem to gather his thoughts enough to do so. Especially not when the orange-haired man finally finished with the lacings, and roughly opened his breeches to release his erection. And most especially not when Yozak curled his big hand around the base of it, and leaned in to begin to suck at the head relentlessly.

Konrad had to stuff the fingers of his hand into his mouth to muffle the loud cries that were being ripped from his throat by Yozak’s talented mouth. He pushed his hips desperately at the other man, feeling the spy's tongue lick a trail down the length of his erection until he met his own hand. Then Yozak move a bit further down and closed his mouth over one of Konrad’s balls, rolling it around inside delicately. His hand pumped the knight's cock strongly at the same time. He could see through his orange eyelashes that Konrad’s face was already a deep, dark red, and that his face was twisted as he tried to be quiet. 

He released Konrad from his mouth for a moment, to a low moan of disappointment, so that he could put one of the fingers of his free hand into his mouth and suck on it. Yozak laved it with his tongue while he continued to stroke Konrad’s cock with his other hand. Then he slid the moistened digit around behind his lover and pushed the tip of it inside the tight entrance into the other man's body. The spy began to finger him, as he licked the tip of Konrad’s penis once more. The orange-haired man enjoyed the gasps and cries that were coming from behind Konrad’s fingers, which the knight was now biting in his efforts to control himself. 

Konrad was losing it. That finger wormed its way inside of him slowly, stroking over the sore tissue gently. That, and the feel of Yozak’s tongue swirling over the head of his cock, were enough to make him feel as though his brain were going to shatter into bits at any moment. All of his muscles were straining as he pushed more of himself into Yozak’s hot mouth. He was close already. And then that digit reached its target, and his legs nearly buckled as he screamed behind his fingers. Yozak had cleverly timed his stimulation of Konrad’s prostate gland with strong sucking on his cock, while he stroked the knight's balls, and prodded his perineum as well. These overwhelming sensations took Konrad over the edge. His knuckles were bloodied as his teeth closed over them in a reflex action, and he shot and shot into Yozak’s warm, welcoming mouth. 

Yozak finally withdrew his mouth with a last lazy lick at the tip. He smiled up at his red, sweaty, trembling fiancé, who had fallen back against the tree as though there were no strength left in his legs anymore. Which there most likely wasn’t. He patted Konrad’s hip tenderly as he got to his feet. The spy kissed that flushed face and Konrad’s brown eyes opened to look at him dazedly. “Told you it’d be a quickie,” Yozak said with a smirk. He turned away. “We should get back before the boys miss us,” he said over his shoulder.

Konrad stared at him. The bastard thought that he could just do something like that and then casually walk away? Oh, no. Nothing doing. He collected himself with an effort, and strode forward after the oblivious Yozak. The orange-haired spy gasped a little as a pair of strong hands closed over his shoulders and spun him around. Before he knew it Konrad had pushed his back up against a tree and was in his face. “And just where do you think that you’re going?” Konrad asked menacingly. Yozak blinked at him uncertainly. 

“There is no way that I’m letting you just walk away after that," he said, pushing his face close to Yozak’s. The spy opened his mouth as if to protest, and Konrad kissed him deeply before he could speak. He could taste himself faintly in Yozak’s mouth, and that taste excited him even more. When Yozak made a questioning noise in his throat, Konrad merely tangled his tongue with his lover's even as he let his hands begin to stroke down the tawny leather tunic. He was determined to return the favor this time. Yozak had certainly pleasured him often enough last night and today with his mouth. 

Yozak gasped into his mouth when he felt Konrad’s fingers close over the lacings on his breeches. It pleased Konrad to have taken his betrothed by surprise. His fingers shook faintly with a combination of eagerness and nervousness as he finished undoing the laces and pushed the breeches down Yozak’s thighs to free his erection. He lifted his mouth from the other man's, seeing that the flame-blue eyes were a little wide, as his fingers closed over the cock that he’d freed. He stroked lightly up its length as Yozak shuddered a bit. “A-are you sure about this, Konrad?” Yozak gasped even as he pushed his hips forward a bit.

“Yes,” Konrad replied simply. He knelt down before Yozak, studying the cock that he held in his hand. It was reddened with excitement, and it twitched as Yozak groaned a little in anticipation of what he would do next. Konrad leaned forward and put out his tongue delicately to barely touch the head. He withdrew it to consider the taste, as Yozak close his eyes and made a rather desperate sound in the back of his throat. Deciding that he liked the way it tasted, Konrad licked at the head in a long swipe, making Yozak’s fingers dig into the bark of the tree behind his back as he gritted his teeth. Oh, Shinou!

Awkwardly Konrad tried to imitate the things that Yozak had done to him both last night and just now. He didn’t have any experience in pleasuring another man with his mouth, so he just tried to do the things that he’d liked. For Yozak, the sight of Konrad kneeling before him so that the knight could lick and suck at his cock was making the orange-haired man feel like he was going to explode. It was the hottest thing he’d ever seen. Even the knight's untutored awkwardness was a turn on because it meant that Konrad had never done this before to another man. He was Konrad’s first, his first male lover and now the first man that he’d ever given a blow job to. Arousal coursed through Yozak at this thought, and he groaned deep in his throat, as he fixed his eyes rather dazedly on the top of Konrad’s brown head.

Konrad withdrew his mouth from Yozak’s erection for a moment so that he could moisten one of his fingers with spit. Before the spy's dazed mind could register what he was doing, Yozak felt that finger move behind him and push up into his body. The orange-haired man arched his back at the feel of this and bit his lip to contain the loud cry that wanted to burst forth from his chest. Konrad began to move his finger in and out even as he returned to sucking on Yozak’s cock. His hand stroked the base of it in time with his sucking, and Yozak knew that he wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer under this treatment. Later, he thought muzzily, I’ll teach him to find my prostate. Later… He desperately pushed Konrad’s head away from his crotch as he came with a harsh groan, his body shuddering. 

Konrad frowned up at him. He’d been expecting to swallow Yozak’s come, just as his fiancé always swallowed his. “Why did you push me away?” he demanded of Yozak. 

Yozak blinked down at him as he panted. “I,” he groaned a bit as he tried to speak, “I didn’t want you to choke, baby. There’s a trick to it, which I’ll show you tonight if you want me to,” he looked down into Konrad’s gentle brown eyes with a mellow, loving gaze. Konrad considered this, and nodded firmly.

“Great,” Yozak pulled him to his feet and kissed him lightly on the mouth. “But now we really do need to get back. The boys’ll think that we’ve been eaten by a bear or something. Instead of just being eaten,” he said with a wink which made Konrad blush. 

Yozak laced him back into his breeches tenderly, and then he returned the favor. With a last lingering kiss they made their way back out of the trees. They found that Yuri and Wolfram hadn’t even noticed that they’d gone, since the two boys had been so busy billing and cooing together. Yuri looked up in surprise when the two men emerged from the trees. Both of their faces were rather red and they were sweaty. Had they been sparring together? He wondered as he watched them approach. “Who won?” he asked curiously.

Yozak stopped in his tracks at this question and eyed Yuri in puzzlement. “What?” he said, as Konrad cocked his head questioningly behind him.

“Weren’t you two just fighting with your swords?” Yuri asked innocently. “You’re both red and sweating. So I was wondering who won.”

Yozak somehow contained a snicker, but not easily. He looked at his fiancé, whose face was turning an even darker red from embarrassment. “It was actually a draw,” he replied with laughter quivering in his voice.

“Oh,” Yuri scratched at his head as Wolfram peered at his reddening brother in puzzlement of his own. “But I thought that Konrad was better than you?” the Maou asked Yozak hesitantly. “No offense,” he added hastily.

Yozak shrugged good-naturedly. “None taken,” he replied. “And, yeah, Konrad’s normally better with his weapon,” there was subtle nuance to his voice that made Konrad groan in the back of his throat, “But in the case of the weapons in question, I gotta say that I’m just as proficient. Maybe more,” he added as Konrad wondered whether he should just kill his beloved here and now before he could say anything else.

Yuri traded glances with Wolfram. What weapon did Yozak have, they were both thinking, that he was better at using than Konrad? Konrad’s elbow connected viciously with his betrothed’s ribcage, and Yozak grunted in pain, even as he kept grinning. He was thoroughly enjoying flustering his fiance. “Could you show me this weapon later?” Yuri asked hopefully, eager to see what it was that Yozak was more proficient with.

Konrad made a horrified sound in the back of his throat. Yozak shrugged. “I don’t think that that’s possible, Heika,” he said gravely, fighting his laughter down. “I only use it on Konrad. It’s a secret weapon,” he added happily, aware that Konrad was glaring daggers at him.

Yuri blinked. “Umm, okay,” he said, feeling a little disappointed. 

Wolfram, for his part, was taking in his brother’s flushed face and Yozak’s words, and putting two and two together. He was a little more experienced and less innocent than Yuri, after all. He fought back a groan, as his own face blushed a bright pink. He spoke up hurriedly, wanting to divert Yuri from asking any more questions. For the sake of himself as well as his poor brother, who looked like he was swinging between wanting to kill himself out of sheer embarrassment and wanting to kill Yozak to shut him up. 

“Yuri,” he said.

“Huh?” Yuri turned to look at him. "What is it, Wolf?” 

Wolfram decided to martyr himself to the cause. Not that it was really a hardship…he leaned forward and kissed Yuri softly on the mouth, hearing Yozak chuckle and Konrad sigh in relief. Yuri’s eyes were rather dreamy by the time the blonde pulled away from him, and all thoughts of ‘secret weapons’ were obviously forgotten. “We should get going” Wolfram said, tenderly stroking Yuri’s cheek. The Maou nodded, although in his state he would have most likely have agreed to walk into a bear pit. Wolfram got to his feet and helped a happily muzzy Yuri to his.

 

Yozak retrieved his backpack and Konrad’s, helping his lover to put his on. This help mostly involved him kissing the side of Konrad’s neck, which did not make putting the pack on any easier. But finally they were ready to go, and Yozak slung his arm around Konrad’s waist as they got back onto the road once more. Hopefully they’d reach the next village before dark and have time to scout around for any rumors about the ring. They were close to the area where it was said to reside, and many times the gossip of the locals was very useful in helping to pinpoint the location. Like when they’d found Morgif because the people who lived on and around the mountain where it was had talked about the strange happenings caused by the sword.

Yuri was starting to feel rather nervous about tonight to go along with his excitement. Would he be able to put Yozak’s advice to good use? Or would Wolfram be disappointed? He wanted to please his fiancé and to do a good job. But it wasn’t easy when you were a just barely sixteen-year-old virgin who was going to try to have sex with your also virgin fiancé for the very first time. He prayed to the Gods of Earth, and also to Shinou that he wouldn’t screw this up. He looked at Wolfram’s beautiful face as the other boy smiled at him. :I can do this right: he thought in determination. : If not for me, then for Wolf: he returned that smile, as some of the determination that he had in droves from the Demon King nature within him rose up in his breast.


	9. Chapter 9

The party reached the next village just before sunset. They went to the local inn to get rooms, before splitting up to go and talk to the locals. Yozak commented that he’d hang out in the local stores because he had to buy something…he winked at Yuri as he said this, which made the boy blush as he remembered what it was that Yozak had to buy more of. Wolfram looked at him questioningly at his reaction to Yozak’s rather sly statement, but Yuri only made an excuse and hurried off before the blonde boy could ask him anything.

He wandered around for awhile, talking happily with just about everybody he met. Yuri truly liked people, and he enjoyed himself thoroughly. The thought of what would happen soon was something for him to both look forward to - and also feel a bit anxious about. When he finally returned to the inn to get some dinner because he was starving, he smiled brightly when he saw Wolfram sitting outside the building on a bench waiting for him. The blonde prince’s emerald eyes lit up when he spied his fiancé approaching, and he stood up to hurry over and take Yuri’s hands in his own. 

“Any luck?” Wolfram asked, sounding as though he really didn’t care about the question, as he gazed deep into Yuri’s eyes.

Yuri remembered about the ring. "No,” he replied, shaking his head. “I didn’t hear any rumors about anything strange.”

Wolfram nodded. "Me either. Maybe the Maou’s ring isn’t around here, after all.”

Yuri started to reply when he heard Konrad’s voice hailing them. He turned to see his tall friend walking toward the inn. His gentle face was grave. “No luck, Heika,” he said quietly as he came up to them. 

“Us either,” Yuri said to him, jerking a thumb at Wolfram. “I think we might be on the wrong track, Konrad.”

The knight sighed. “Perhaps you’re right,” he conceded. “I’m not sure where else to look though…”

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” a voice said over his shoulder cheerfully, making him jump a bit. Yozak had snuck up on him with surprising ease. Or perhaps it wasn’t surprising, since Konrad trusted Yozak, and so let down his guard where the spy was concerned. He felt a pair of strong arms slide around his waist, and Yozak’s chin settled on his shoulder. 

“When I was in one of the stores, buying a certain item,” Yozak drawled, beginning to rub his chin on his fiancé’s shoulder, “I overheard a couple of men talking about a certain eccentric old man who lives outside of town in a crumbling old fortress. Apparently, he’s a miser who’s said to have a hoard of gold stashed away, as well as dozens of magical artifacts both human and demon. He likes to wear one of these artifacts, in fact. A ring with some kind of seal on it. A really strange ring, which they said makes odd things happen around the old man sometimes…” he looked pleased with himself.

Konrad turned his head to look at his fiance’s profile. “Good work, Yozak,” he said. The orange-haired man beamed at him. “Does this mean that you’re going to reward me for my efforts?” he said lasciviously, rubbing his chest a little against Konrad’s back.

The knight gasped softly. “I believe I can do that,” he said seriously.

“Great,” purred Yozak. He pulled away from Konrad with a grin. “What’s for dinner?” he asked hopefully. “I’m starving.”

 

 

Yuri was trying to contain the butterflies in his stomach. Dinner was over, and both Konrad and Yozak had retired to their room. Presumably so that Konrad could ‘reward’ Yozak. Now Yuri followed Wolfram into their room, feeling sweat breaking out on his brow as he did so. The blonde prince seemed unaware of Yuri’s anxiety, going to sit down on his bed and pull off his boots with a tired sigh. Yuri closed the door behind him and locked it with trembling fingers. It was now or never, but he wished that he felt less like running into the bathroom and heaving up his dinner out of sheer nervousness. 

He walked over to where Wolfram sat. “W-Wolf?” he squeaked in a rather high voice.

Wolfram looked up. “What is it Yuri?” he asked, looking concerned when he saw how nervous the other boy looked. He stood up and put a hand on Yuri’s shoulder. "What’s the matter?” He said.

Yuri gathered all of his courage. He lunged forward and covered Wolfram’s mouth with his own, taking the prince by surprise. He tried not to press too hard or to mash his mouth against Wolfram's. That had been one of the bits of advice that Yozak had given him about kissing. There was only so much advice, the spy had told him, that could be given on that subject. One could only really learn about kissing by practicing. Yuri set out to get in some practice right now, and he heard Wolfram make a small sound in the back of his throat as he tentatively moved his mouth over his fiancé’s. 

He pulled his head back after a bit. Wolfram’s face was already flushing faintly pink, and his big emerald eyes were bright with a sheen of lust. “Yuri,” he murmured, and the lowered, sultry tone of his voice made Yuri’s groin tighten in response.

Well, so far so good, Yuri thought. He lifted his hands to begin to unlace the green, short-sleeved over-tunic that Wolfram was wearing. His hands shook and he felt breathless. Wolfram stood still and let him get on with it, although he was gasping desperately as he watched Yuri finally finish opening the tunic and push it off his shoulders. It dropped to the floor, forgotten, as Yuri gripped the hem of the long-sleeved linen undershirt, and drew that over Wolfram’s head as well. The blonde prince raised his arms to help his fiance remove this garment, his body shaking a little with desire and his own form of nervousness.

Yuri hesitated about taking off Wolfram’s breeches, although he’d already seen the other boy almost totally naked this morning. Wolfram took pity on him, and reached down to undo the laces himself. Yuri began to remove his own tunic hurriedly, as he watched the blonde boy shuck out of his breeches to shyly display his body to Yuri’s hungry gaze. He was just so beautiful, and Yuri’s fingers stilled as he stared at that white, slender form with his mouth slightly open. His gaze came to rest on Wolfram’s groin, still fascinated by the blonde's erection. The prince took a deep breath, as desire coursed through him at the look in Yuri’s eyes. He walked toward Yuri, who began to pant helplessly as Wolfram reached out to begin to undress him himself. 

Wolfram removed the tunic, and then pulled Yuri’s shirt over his head impatiently. “Take your boots off, Yuri,” Wolfram commanded him throatily. Yuri hurriedly bent over to comply, and Wolfram let his eyes wander down his fiancé’s pale, slim back. His emerald gaze settled on the sight of Yuri’s ass, outlined in the leather of his breeches. When Yuri finally pulled off the second boot and straightened up, the blonde reached out to undo the laces on his breeches. Yuri froze as Wolfram’s nimble fingers ghosted so close to his groin, and he groaned a little in his throat. The prince yanked the breeches down Yuri’s hips, not feeling as shy as his lover right at this moment. All he wanted was to touch his fiance and be touched in return, to go through the act with Yuri that Wolfram knew would bring them both such pleasure.

His courage helped Yuri to find his own. The Maou stepped out of his breeches then put out a hand to touch Wolfram’s bare chest. The blonde froze with his breath huffing in and out of his chest, as Yuri’s slender fingers began to trace circles over his pale skin. They sketched Wolfram's pectoral until they arrived at one of the small, pale-pink nipples. Remembering another piece of sage advice from Yozak, Yuri ran his thumb over this tiny nub. It hardened into a peak instantly and Wolfram gave a small gasping cry at the feel of this caress. Seeing that he liked it, Yuri began to rub his thumb in a circle over the rucked nipple. He lifted his other hand to attend to the other one, drawing soft cries from his betrothed. Wolfram arched his back a little into Yuri’s caresses as he clutched at the other boy's shoulders with his own hands.

He gave a disappointed whimper as Yuri abandoned his nipples and began to move his hands down Wolfram's pale abdomen. But he cried out sharply when Yuri bent his head and closed his mouth over one of the nipples he’d just been stroking. Yozak had told him to do it as though he were a baby sucking at its mother’s breast. This analogy had made Yuri blush painfully, but he tried to do it as the spy had told him. He suckled strongly at the nipple, and Wolfram’s hands flew to bury themselves in his dyed-red hair. Yuri winced as the blonde yanked at the hair rather painfully, but he continued what he was doing. He was enjoying the sounds he was drawing from Wolfram’s throat.

Wolfram was too caught up with what Yuri was doing with his mouth to remember the hands that were drifting down his body. He only became aware of them when one closed over his cock and the other slid around his hip to cup one of his buttocks. This duel stimulation, on top of the attention that Yuri was now laving on his other nipple, was almost too much for the prince. He bucked his hips forward to push his cock into Yuri’s caressing fingers, feeling that other hand begin to knead his ass tenderly. He threw his head back as the Maou's hand began to move, stroking his erection firmly.

“Y-Yuri," he stuttered, “Where did you…” he couldn’t go on, although he wanted to know where Yuri had learned to do any of the things the other boy was currently doing to him. Yuri couldn’t really have been cheating on him, could he? He had been sure that Yuri had never been with anyone this morning, and he was pretty sure that he’d given his fiancé his first orgasm ever. So how…? 

Yuri gave his flushed, hardened nipple a last small lick and raised his head. “I asked Yozak for some advice,” he told Wolfram. “That’s what I wanted to talk to him about today. I…wanted to do this right. So that it would be good for you,” he explained to Wolfram.

Wolfram stared at him. Yuri’s fingers had stopped moving as he explained, so coherent thoughts could actually form in the prince’s head. Yuri had asked Yozak how to go about having sex with him? A tender smile spread across the blonde's face. That was so like Yuri. This was one of the reasons that Wolfram loved him so much – that caring, sweet nature that went to so much trouble and embarrassment just so that the one he loved wouldn’t be disappointed. “Oh, Yuri,” he breathed, hugging him close. “I love you so much.”

Yuri felt tears prickle at the back of his eyes at Wolfram’s words. He turned his head and kissed the side of that elegant white neck, nuzzling into the skin. “I love you, too, Wolf,” he murmured. “You’re so beautiful.”

Wolfram sighed happily and pushed himself toward Yuri so that their bodies rubbed together from chest to groin. The Maou moaned as their erections ground together, and kissed Wolfram’s delicate ear almost frantically. The blonde’s hands slid around to begin stroking the skin of Yuri’s back as the Maou planted a string of kisses along the blonde prince’s fragile jawline. They continued to rub themselves against each other until they were both so frantic that they could barely breathe. “Yuri,” Wolfram moaned in his ear, as Yuri sucked at the side of his neck hard enough to leave a bruise, “Please. Do it.”

Yuri pulled back to look at him seriously. “Are you sure, Wolf?” he asked tentatively. “Because I could be the one to…you know…if you want.”

Wolfram smiled as he reached up to cup Yuri’s cheek. “No. I want to feel you inside of me, Yuri,” he said softly, making his lover shudder at his words and the hazy, soft look in his shining emerald eyes.

“All right,” Yuri kissed him again, wrapping his arms around that lovely slender body as he let his hands wander over all that soft skin. Wolfram returned the kiss with enthusiasm, but he finally pulled away and began to back toward the nearest bed. He never took his eyes away from Yuri’s, and the Maou panted as he watched his fiancé reach the bed and lay down on it with a sensual grace. He bent and spread his legs, displaying himself un-selfconsciously to Yuri’s eyes. 

His slender fingers began to dance down his own white stomach. “Yuri,” he moaned, as his fiancé stood with his eyes riveted on those moving digits. He reached the soft golden curls at his groin and slid his hand down to take a hold of his own erection. He stroked himself lightly, his breath gasping out as he lifted his hips. “Come on, Yuri,” he coaxed the frozen boy. 

His words broke Yuri out of his daze. He bent hurriedly to retrieve his dropped backpack, digging through it until he found the stoppered jar that Yozak had given him this morning. Carrying this, he walked over to the bed where Wolfram was waiting for him. The blonde prince looked curiously at the jar. “What’s that, Yuri?”

“Yozak gave it to me,” Yuri replied as a faint blush spread over his cheeks. "It’s to…ummm,” he felt too embarrassed to continue speaking, but instead opened the bottle and dipped his fingers into it. He showed the oily fingers to Wolfram. “It’s to make it easier for me to...” 

“Oh,” comprehension lit Wolfram’s lovely emerald gaze. He lifted his hips again, offering his small, rosy, puckered hole to Yuri. “Then do it, Yuri,” he purred.

Yuri knelt on the bed between his legs. He reached out his hand to gently touch Wolfram with the two oily fingers. He rubbed the tips over the sensitive ring of muscle, hearing Wolfram cry out at the sensation. Emboldened by the pleasure he heard in Wolfram’s voice, he slipped the tip of one finger into the tight, clinging hole. He began to move it in and out of Wolfram’s body, listening to the prince’s gasping cries. His other hand moved to stroke one of his lover's thighs as he did so. After a few moments he pushed the finger in a little more. Wolfram bucked his hips, moaning Yuri’s name. The Maou was amazed by the way that the blonde’s internal muscles clung to his finger. 

He looked up at Wolfram’s face. The prince was flushed a dark pink color from his upper chest to his face. His fingers clenched the bedspread on either side of him. Those lovely emerald eyes were closed as he concentrated on the sensations that Yuri was creating in his body. He was so sexy, so gorgeous this way. Yuri hurriedly began to move his finger in and out, going deeper and moving it faster. His cock twitched between his legs. All he wanted was to get into Wolfram before he disgraced himself by coming all over the blonde without even touching himself. 

Wolfram moaned helplessly and arched his back as Yuri thrust yet another finger into him. Those fingers felt so good and he couldn’t wait for something else to be put into his body. Yuri’s fingers pushed into him harder and he gave a shrill scream of pleasure as his entire body bucked off the bed. Yuri’s fingertips had struck something inside of him, something that made an explosion of pleasure go off inside of him. Oh, Shinou, what was that? “Wolf?” he heard Yuri say in concern. “Are you all right?”

“Yes!” Wolfram cried. “Oh, yes! That felt so good, Yuri!”

Yuri was reassured by Wolfram’s words. He’d been startled by the prince’s reaction. Tentatively he pushed his fingers back into Wolfram’s body, trying to see if he could cause it again. He stroked over the tissue within with his fingertips, trying to find the place that had caused Wolfram’s reaction. He went deeper, and he knew he’d found it when Wolfram convulsed again. Fascinated by drawing such a strong reaction from his beloved, Yuri prodded the same place several more times with the tips of his fingers. Each time Wolfram screamed and bucked helplessly, and he might have continued with this all night if the blonde hadn’t opened his eyes and said desperately: “Yuri! Do it to me now!” He was so far gone from the pleasure of Yuri’s actions that he felt like he was going to shatter into a million pieces at any moment.

Yuri withdrew his fingers. He dipped them back in the jar and then reached down to put the oil on himself. He grimaced with pleasure at the feel of his own hand on his erection, and he stroked it for a moment until it was thoroughly coated. But a cry from a desperate Wolfram drew him away from thoughts of self-pleasure, and he shuffled forward between Wolfram’s bent legs awkwardly.

He took himself in hand again as Wolfram instinctively wrapped his long slim legs around Yuri’s back. It took him a moment to align himself, but when the tip of his cock was against the puckered ring he pushed forward a bit. It slid into Wolfram’s body without much resistance and both boys gasped loudly at the feel. Yuri panted as he waited, head hanging. Yozak had sternly warned him that it would hurt Wolfram if he just thrust himself entirely into the other boy's body in one push as he longed to do. The feel of that tight passage clasping his cock was almost too much for him. 

It was Wolfram who decided that he was ready for more. He lifted his hips to take in more of Yuri, moaning out a begging sound at the same time. Yuri gasped and pushed more of himself inside of his beloved, finally seating himself entirely within the blonde so that their pubic hairs meshed. Then he stopped again, gritting his teeth at the feel of his entire erection being held tightly within Wolfram’s sweet body. He heard the prince moan, and there was some pain in the lower registers. But that didn’t stop him from bucking his hips up at Yuri once more.

“Move, Yuri,” he groaned, and Yuri didn’t question his command. Instinctively he began to move in and out in that oldest of dances. He leaned forward with his arms on either side of Wolfram, as the blonde prince clasped his forearms in his hands. He rolled his head back on the pillow at the sensations gathering in his body from Yuri’s swift, eager thrusts. There was some pain, it was true, and it was uncomfortable at first; but soon the friction began to make the pain disappear, to be replaced with acute pleasure. He cried out over and over, hearing Yuri’s groaning counterpoints above him. This was so good! He’d waited so long for something like this. He wished that this could go on forever.

But, of course it couldn’t, especially with two such young and inexperienced boys. Yuri’s face was twisted as he lunged into Wolfram, and the prince was beginning to feel something rising in his stomach and loins. Something huge. And that feeling only ratcheted up higher when the tip of Yuri’s cock found that same spot within the blonde that his fingertips had. He shrieked as his prostrate was prodded sharply, his fingers closing in the flesh of Yuri’s arms hard enough to draw blood. His cock was rubbing against Yuri’s stomach as The Maou moved over him, and that combined with those sharp peaks of pleasure each time that Yuri slid into him and hit that place…it was too much. 

Wolfram burst apart, his cry of pleasure so loud that it was a wonder it didn’t rouse the rest of the inn. Thank Shinou for thick walls. His semen burst out and splattered on Yuri’s stomach as his lover thrust into his tightened body twice more before he, too, succumbed to the mind numbing pleasure of his orgasm. His shriek was nearly as loud as Wolfram’s had been, and he collapsed atop his fiancé as his arms gave way.

Both boys lay panting, feeling pulped and dazed by the force of the pleasure that they’d both experienced. Yuri laid his head on Wolfram’s chest, feeling the gasping breaths that the prince was taking. He closed his eyes and listened to the thundering pounding of Wolfram’s heart under his ear. “Wow,” he breathed when he could speak again. 

“Yeah,” Wolfram agreed rather sleepily. He felt worn out from that little encounter, and his eyelids fluttered as he fought against going to sleep. 

Yuri realized with a grimace that his belly was covered in Wolfram’s drying semen. “I’m going to go clean up,” he said, withdrawing from his fiancé to a candy floss moan of complaint. Wolfram only murmured a bit at this. Yuri saw that he was nearly asleep. 

He smiled down at his exhausted betrothed before he padded off to the bathroom to get a towel to clean himself off. Then he returned to the bed to clean Wolfram up as well, which didn’t wake the deeply sleeping boy. Once he’d returned the towel to the bathroom, he came back out and went to crawl into bed next to Wolfram. He snuggled up close to him, laying his head against Wolf’s back. This was good. Almost as good as the proceeding event had been. He wouldn’t mind doing this for the rest of his life – having sex with Wolf, and then curling up next to him in bed. He nuzzled his nose into the soft skin, breathing in his lover’s scent. “I’ll never complain again about you pushing me out of bed,” he murmured to the sleeping boy. “For that I’d sleep on the floor gladly afterward.” He kissed the skin tenderly, then closed his own eyes and went to sleep as well.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Here you go, Kuroneko. Thanks for being such a good fan. We writers always appreciate enthusiasm from our fans! :) -DL 

 

The four of them slept in a bit the next morning. They arrived at the breakfast table nearly together. Konrad moved with even more care than he had yesterday, but there was a small smile on his face, and a dreamy quality to his soft brown eyes. Yozak looked both lazily satisfied, and faintly smug. He grinned at the sight of Yuri and Wolfram entering the room, both boys smiling. They both blushed faintly under his approving flame-blue gaze, glancing at each other shyly out of shining eyes. Wolfram winced a little when he sat down on the hard bench, sympathizing with his brother. But now he understood why Konrad seemed so happy, even with the morning-after discomfort. It was definitely worth it.

Everyone ate a big breakfast, before they left to travel to this ruined fortress that Yozak had gotten directions to. The building was out north of the village, off the main road. It was a beautiful summer morning when they set off, with birds wheeling in the deep blue sky, and a few little white clouds scuttling overhead. Yuri and Wolfram held hands again, enjoying the day and each other’s company. Yozak strolled along beside Konrad, occasionally leaning in to whisper salacious things in his ear. He enjoyed working his lover up, and Konrad’s eyes had taken on a decided lusty sheen after a little while. Yozak was looking forward to a repetition of yesterday’s ‘quickie’ sometime soon.

After half an hour, Yozak pointed to the left. “There it is,” he said, and indeed, the massive crumbled remains of an ancient fortress rose out a sea of grass in a field. They turned onto the narrow footpath that seemed to be the only access to the building.

“You sure that somebody actually lives here?” Yuri asked doubtfully, taking in the drunkenly-tilting towers atop this dilapidated structure. The fortress was only two stories tall, and the south wall of the second floor had collapsed outward, leaving a gaping hole. A pile of rubble on the ground under the hole was all that remained of the wall.

“Well, they did say that he was eccentric,” Yozak replied doubtfully. He eyed the place as they came closer, but it really didn’t look inhabited.

“I think that someone must live here,” Konrad said quietly. He pointed to a crude wooden corral near the north end of the structure. A donkey and two goats gave them all curious stares, not used to having visitors in this place. 

There was a solid, fairly new-looking wooden door set in the door frame, and it was locked. Yozak lifted his hand from the doorknob and shook his head. “Should we come back later?” Yuri asked, looking around.

“I doubt that he’ll talk to us no matter what time we come, when he realizes that we want to acquire this ring of his,” Yozak replied. He reached into a pouch at his waist and extracted a sharp bit of steel. He bent over and inserted this piece of metal into the lock, grinning to himself as he deftly picked the lock.

Konrad sighed. He knew about these talents of Yozak’s, of course. He wasn’t happy about this, but he knew that the other man was probably right. This crazy old miser wouldn’t be happy about demons appearing and trying to take his unusual ring, and would most likely not sell it to them. They’d probably have to steal it if they could, or perhaps take it by force. But they’d try not to hurt the old man, just get the ring and go. He heard Yozak give a muffled exclamation of triumph as he opened the door. He grinned at Konrad as he straightened up, making a sweeping gesture with his hands. “After you,” he said.

Konrad walked into the cool, dim interior. The only windows on the first floor were narrow arrow slits set high in the wall, and it took him a few moments for his eyes to adjust. When they did he saw a bare, sparsely furnished, but surprisingly clean room. It was empty. It had a faintly musty odor, and he wrinkled his nose a bit as he walked across the room towards the small, crudely-made bed. It was draped with a clean but tatty-looking quilt. 

Yozak didn’t hesitate, but walked over to some narrow cupboards and opened them. He began to rifle through them quickly and neatly, finding nothing but supplies and food stuffs. The two boys came cautiously into the room, craning their necks to stare up at the rotting half-timbers that supported the ceiling above. “Hey, there’s a staircase!" Wolfram exclaimed, and then clapped a hand over his mouth, as his voice echoed through the large stone room. “Sorry,” he mumbled through his fingers.

“Ah, it's okay, Kiddo. I don’t think that he’s home, anyway,” Yozak commented from where he was still going through the cupboards. “Go and look under the bed, will you?”

They spread out through the room, but there wasn’t much furniture to search. Yuri picked up the musty embroidered cushion on the single chair, sneezing and holding it in his fingertips, as a look of distaste flashed over his face. They found no sign of this miser’s hoard of treasure anywhere on the first floor, and Yozak cautiously went over to look at the staircase that Wolfram had spotted. It was wooden, and led up into a hole into the second floor. It looked rather creaky, and wasn’t supported very well. He eyed this structure dubiously, but at last shrugged and hurled himself lightly up the steps. Konrad called after him sharply, not liking him doing something so dangerous, but he made it to the top without incident. “Don’t be such an old woman, Konrad,” he called down to his fiancé in amusement. “Come on up, the view’s fine.”

Konrad followed him more cautiously, feeling the wood of the rickety stairs creak under his feet. He found Yozak waiting for him near another (conveniently) unlocked door. The long upstairs room had been divided in two, and the open door that Yozak was lounging next to was the only entrance into the other room beyond. Konrad walked over to peer into the gloom, seeing a few broken boxes and smashed trunks in it, but nothing else. Cobwebs seemed to be the major furnishings in the room. “Doesn’t look like he keeps his hoard in there either,” Yozak said with a sigh. “Looks like we’ll have to camp out and wait for him to come back, and then see if he actually has this ring, and whether it’s the Maou’s ring, after all. I wish I’d thought to have the innkeeper pack us some lunches. Wonder how mad the old man would get if we ate his food?” 

He wandered over to the massive hole that had once been the south wall as he spoke, going to the edge to look down at the pile of rubble lying on the ground below. “Wonder what took this out,” he murmured. “Some kind of siege engine, maybe?”

He turned around in the opening, squinting a little in the light coming through the hole. Konrad was still standing near the door, with his arms crossed over his chest and a small frown on his face. Yozak knew that the upright knight wasn’t happy with the idea of bushwhacking and stealing from an old man. But since there was no choice he’d go along with it. He grinned to himself. He himself had no such qualms. This was simply something that had to be done, and his practical nature wanted to get on with it as quickly as possible.

Konrad turned to go over to the hole in the floor and tell the boys not to come up the stairs, as there was nothing on the second floor. He had almost made it, when a high, shrill voice demanded loudly “What are you doing here?!”

The voice came seemingly out of nowhere, as did the owner. Konrad whirled around, seeing an ancient, sour-faced little man standing in the open doorway of the supposedly empty room. Where had he come from? The knight wondered in the part of his brain that still worked. Behind him, Yozak jumped at the sound of that voice, and the sudden appearance of the gnome-like figure, seemingly out of nowhere. It was an instinctive response, and he forgot that he was standing at the edge of the hole in the wall. He felt himself falling backward, and he threw out his arms to try to catch onto something desperately. But there was nothing to hold onto, and he couldn’t right his balance. He toppled out the hole with a cry, causing Konrad to whirl around again, just in time to see Yozak falling. 

“Yozak!” he cried in horror, running over to the hole. The old man was forgotten, as he stared downward. Yozak had fallen on the pile of rubble below, and one of his arms was at an odd angle. He was unmoving, and there was stillness to his sprawled body that made a chill of horror run through Konrad’s. “Yozak,” he choked, his brain trying to freeze up. But his legs acted without guidance, and he ran toward the staircase blindly as the old man shrilled at him: “Who are ye? What’s goin’ on here?” Konrad didn’t answer either of these queries, as he lunged down the stairs.

The boys looked startled when Konrad darted recklessly down the stairs and out the door. “Konrad!” Wolfram yelled frantically, when he saw Konrad’s white face and shocked eyes. “What is it? What happened?!” but Konrad didn’t answer, and both of them hurried after him.

Konrad tore around the side of the building, and began to scramble up the pile of rubble. Sharp rocks cut into his hands, but he ignored the sting. His eyes were set on the top of the heap, and getting to Yozak. :Please: he prayed desperately to Shinou as he scrambled upward. :Please, don’t. Not after Julia. I can’t…: he arrived at the top with a last frantic heave of his body, and wormed his way over the uneven surface toward the man still lying where he’d fallen.

Yozak’s face was whiter even than normal, and a trickle of blood had run from one corner of his mouth. He was so still…Konrad felt his stomach lurch and his heart twist as he came nearer. “Yozak,” he whispered, in despair and disbelief. This couldn’t be happening…not so soon after he’d finally realized how he felt about Yozak. He couldn’t lose him now. There’d be no Yozak this time to tell him that he had to live, because others needed him. No Yozak…He made a sound deep in his throat, as he put out his hand to touch that still, pale face.

Konrad bent his head in anguish, as he heard Yuri and Wolfram arrive at the top of the pile behind him. “Yozak!” he heard Yuri cry in horror. “Konrad, what happened?! Is he…?" he trailed off, nearly whimpering as he saw the pain in the set of Konrad’s shoulders. Wolfram put a hand on his arm, his emerald eyes huge and distressed. This whole thing seemed dream-like and unreal. Yozak just couldn’t be dead. He just couldn’t. Not the laughing, fun, cheerful, devil-may-care spy. It just wasn’t possible. Was it? Tears gathered in his eyes, and he turned and buried his face in Wolfram’s shoulder, crying piteously.

Konrad barely heard Yuri’s question. He stroked his hand down the side of Yozak’s face tenderly, closing his eyes, as though by doing so he could somehow make this unreal. His fingers had just reached the other man's temple, and begun to run through that unruly orange hair, when he felt something under his fingertips. A faint but strong something. His eyes flew open just about the same time that Yozak’s did, as the orange-haired spy came back to consciousness with a groan of agony. His right arm reached for his left, and he gritted his teeth over the flaming, searing pain that was shooting down it. He was unaware at first that Konrad was leaning over him, or of the shock and joy that were intermingled in the big brown eyes. 

Yozak began to swear extremely creatively through his teeth. Yuri’s head jerked up when he heard the spy's voice, and his head whipped around. His big eyes widened even further at seeing that Yozak was, most definitely, still alive. And in a lot of pain, which explained why his face was about four shades of white paler than its normal rather pale tones. “Yozak,” he breathed, as Wolfram made a relieved sound in his throat. 

Konrad put his hand on Yozak’s chest. “You shouldn’t move, Yozak,” he directed his beloved urgently. “You might have internal injuries.”

Yozak was nearly rocking now, as he struggled with the pain of his broken arm. “Don’t think so,” he snarled painfully. “Only thing that hurts bad is this arm,” he broke off, gasping, as another rush of nearly unbearable pain shot through him.

“But you have blood on your mouth,” Konrad replied anxiously, trying to stop him from moving. 

“My teeth cut the inside of my cheek when I fell,” Yozak rasped reassuringly. “Damn it!” he writhed as he gripped his broken arm tightly with his other hand.

“Yuri,” Konrad turned to the shaken Maou urgently. “Do you think you can heal his arm? We’re weeks away from a healer, and I don’t even have anything to give him for the pain.”

“I’ll try,” Yuri scrambled over the stone to Yozak’s left side. Wolfram followed him. “I’ll have to straighten your arm, Yozak,” he said apologetically to the orange-haired spy. 

“I know,” Yozak replied tightly. “Just get it over with, kid. If you can heal it, I can put up with some pain.”

Yuri looked at Wolfram. “Help me,” he said, and the blonde boy nodded. Yozak released his left arm, and Yuri took a hold of his forearm. Wolfram grasped his wrist, and together they pulled the broken arm straight. Yuri tried to do it as quickly as possible, but Yozak fought back a scream and somehow turned even paler. His eyes rolled back in his head, and Konrad was grateful when he passed out altogether. It was better, when he was in this much pain, if he were unconscious.

Yuri bent over Yozak’s arm, trying to summon the healing magic inside of himself. He sank his senses into the spy's arm, seeing with his inner eye the bruised muscles, the sparking electricity of the nerves, and the flowing red of the veins. Also the ulna, which was broken clean through in two places. He winced internally when he ‘saw’ those breaks. No wonder Yozak was in such pain. He reached out for them, seeing that they were aligned properly. He sank his magic into the bones on either side of the breaks, encouraging them to begin to speed up their growth. Like tentacles, new bone extended from both ends of the breaks, and began to knit together into a fragile new whole. Recklessly Yuri spent his healing magic to push that growth even faster, his healing instincts taking over. Only when the newly-knit breaks were as solid as they could be with only his healing magic to augment them, did Yuri withdraw from his healing trance. Then he promptly passed out, worn out from using too much magic at once. Wolfram caught him as he fell.

Yozak was stirring back to consciousness reluctantly, obviously afraid that he’d awaken to the blinding pain of his injuries once again. His eyes fluttered open, and he took in the fact that while he hurt all over in a general sort of way from bruised and battered muscles, his arm had receded to a sullen throb. He sighed gratefully as Konrad leaned over him, tenderly running his fingers through his unruly hair. Then he saw Yuri’s limp form in Wolfram’s arms, and he asked urgently: “Is he alright?” fearful memories of Julia and her death flashed through his head.

Wolfram smiled at him reassuringly. “He’ll be fine,” the Prince said. “Yuri’s always been reckless about using his magic. He’ll probably sleep for hours.”

Yozak sighed in relief, gingerly sitting up with Konrad’s help. His left arm was still useless at the moment, and would need a sling while the fragile knits strengthened over the next few weeks. He groaned a little, because his back felt like one giant bruise. Which it probably was. “What happened? Where did that old man come from?” he asked Konrad.

It was only then that Konrad remembered what had caused Yozak’s accident. He turned his head and looked down to see the tiny, withered old man standing nearby glaring up at them. “That’s only what thieves deserve,” he said, shaking a claw-like finger at them. Konrad saw that that finger had some kind of ring on it. 

Konrad rose to his knees, his hand going to his sword. He was not in the best of charity with the old human just now, because the man had almost gotten Yozak killed. He wouldn’t have minded taking the ring by force, if it turned out to be the Maou’s ring. In fact, in his current mood, he was rather looking forward to it. He heard Yozak chuckle weakly at the expression on his face. “Go get him, love,” Yozak said, for he wasn’t feeling very charitable right now either.

The old man was still talking: “Come to steal my gold! Well, ye’ll never find it!”

Konrad moved toward the edge of the stone pile, preparing to slide down the heap. His brown eyes were as hard as the stone under his feet. “We didn’t come for your gold,” he spat icily. 

“Liar!” shrilled the old man. “What else would ye be here for?”

“The ring on your finger,” Konrad said, sitting down so that he could begin his slide to the bottom. “And you’ll give it to us, old man,” he said in a soft, deadly voice.

A look of surprise passed over the old miser’s face. “This?” he said, lifting his finger to display the curious looking ring that sat loosely on it. “You want this?”

“Yes,” Konrad slid down the heap, finding it much easier going than he would have expected. He arrived at the bottom, and stood up in a cloud of stone dust.

“Ye must be demons, then,” the old man said shrewdly.

Konrad looked faintly surprised. “Yes, that’s right.”

The miser nodded. “Ye can have it,” he said, drawing the ring from his crooked old finger and tossing it to Konrad. The soldier caught it deftly, as his eyebrows shot up. 

“It’s a demon thing,” the old man said in explanation, shaking his bald head. “And it has strange demonic powers. I don’t like some of the things it does. I’ll be glad to get rid of it.”

Konrad looked down at the ring on his palm. It was made of thick, tarnished silver, and the seal was copper and gold. The picture on it was so worn that it was almost unidentifiable. But one thing was clear, the mark of the Maou it had belonged to. It was the right ring. “Now that ye demons have got what ye come for, ye can get yerselves gone,” the old man continued. “I don’t like visitors,” and he hobbled off back into his ‘house’, slamming the wooden door behind him.

Konrad carefully stowed the ring in his belt pouch, and climbed back up the pile. He got an arm under Yozak’s shoulder and helped him move to the edge of the pile, wincing at his fiance's soft groans of pain. He was grateful when they reached the ground. Yozak had folded up into a sitting position, his head hanging. Konrad left him there for a moment, to go back up and help Wolfram move the still passed out form of Yuri. Wolfram scrambled down the pile, and Konrad passed him down Yuri. Thank Shinou the Maou wasn’t very large or heavy, Konrad thought, as he made his way back down to the ground. 

They had a dilemma. Yozak could barely walk, and Yuri needed to be carried. Wolfram wasn’t tall or strong enough to support Yozak, or carry Yuri the two miles or so back to the village. Konrad debated what to do. He doubted very much that the miser would let them borrow the donkey, and transporting Yuri on the back of the animal would be an awkward proposition, anyway. He squinted at the road, wondering what to do. Then he saw salvation, and he told Wolfram: “Stay here with them.” He ran off down the track toward the road, to flag down the passing hay wagon. The driver wasn’t happy to be stopped, but he was happy to take them up on his cart when Konrad promised him a good sum for transporting them to the village in(relative)comfort.

The driver waited patiently, while Konrad sprinted back to help Yozak to his feet, and support his staggering steps down the track to the wagon. Getting him up on the wagon proved an awkward task, and he was panting painfully by the time Konrad got him settled in the hay. Then he went back to pick up Yuri and carry him to the wagon, followed by Wolfram. The blonde prince crawled into the hay and accepted Yuri from Konrad’s hands, cradling his fiancé close. Konrad got back up into the wagon to sit next to Yozak. The driver whipped up his oxen, and they began their journey back to the inn.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Konrad attends to the wounded Yozak.

The trip back to the village was hellish. Konrad sat with Yozak’s head in his lap, wincing at his soft, pained gasps each time the wagon hit a rut in the road. He stroked Yozak’s hair, wishing that he could take away the pain some way. But there was no help for it; they had to endure. He was never more grateful when he saw the village in the distance. “Almost there, my love,” he murmured to poor Yozak, who closed his eyes in relief.

Finally, the wagon clattered onto the cobbles at the edge of the village. Konrad spoke to the driver, promising him an extra coin if he delivered them right to the door of the Inn. The man was happy to comply, and guided his ox team through the narrow streets carefully. He drew to a stop in front of the Inn, and Konrad half-lifted Yozak into a sitting position. His bruised muscles were beginning to stiffen, and he could barely move. He left Yozak slumped over and climbed off the cart to take Yuri from Wolfram and carry him inside. The Innkeeper was surprised to see them, but willingly said that he’d re-rent them the same rooms again. He did give Konrad an odd look when he carried the unconscious boy into one room, laying him on the bed. The blonde boy followed at his heels, and began to remove the slender redhead’s clothing. And then the tall, brown-haired man went outside to help a staggering, pale-faced Yozak through the door, and down the hall into the other. Clearly he wondered what had happened, that they were returning after only a few hours in such bad shape. Konrad didn’t explain; but merely shoved some coins into his hand as he went by with Yozak.

He half-carried Yozak into their room, then sat him gingerly on the side of the bed, as he unlaced his tunic and pulled the battered garment off his shoulders. Yozak couldn’t raise his left arm at all, and his right only to his shoulder. Konrad removed his tunic with care, but it still hurt him. His face was twisted into a grimace by the time that he finally got it off. Konrad would have gladly have just left his breeches on him, but he needed to look at the back of his legs and thighs to see how bad the bruising was. So he unlaced the breeches as well, and Yozak managed to lift his hips enough so that he could work them off over his hips and pull them down his legs. He removed his boots and pulled off the breeches altogether, leaving Yozak sitting naked on the side of the bed.

He gently encouraged Yozak to lie down on his stomach. He grimaced when he saw how the white skin was already turning black in patches from bruising. The bruises covered him practically from neck to calves. No wonder he could barely move. Seeing them reminded him of how close Yozak had come to dying, and he began to shake faintly, as reaction finally set in. He hugged his own chest to try to contain it, feeling the trembling spreading throughout his body. He didn’t want to upset Yozak further, not when he needed to rest. He bowed his head as he felt tears trying to force their way out of his eyes, and he blinked rapidly to try to contain them.

He went for the door, wanting to get somewhere where he could get this out in private. But Yozak, even in his battered state, could see that something was bothering Konrad. He’d always been able t o read him with just a look, and the set of Konrad’s shoulders told him that he was upset. “Konrad,” he rasped, and the soldier came to a halt a few feet from the door.

“What?” Konrad didn’t turn to look at him, which told Yozak a lot in itself. 

“What’s the matter?” Yozak asked him gently.

The tender tone of voice was Konrad’s undoing. A sob broke from his chest, and he hunched his shoulders. “I…” he could barely speak.

“Come here,” Yozak commanded him firmly. He didn’t want Konrad to bolt off somewhere; he knew his fiancé well enough to know that he’d try to work through whatever was bothering him alone, with no one to help or comfort him. He’d seen him do it often enough before, but not any more. Not when he had a shoulder to cry on in Yozak.

Konrad didn’t turn around at first. He looked like he might still be considering running out the door anyway. But at last he sighed, and turned back to the bed. The misery in the big brown eyes made Yozak’s heart hurt. He lifted his good hand towards his betrothed. “Come on, baby,” he coaxed Konrad gently. Konrad walked slowly over to the bed, and sat down on the edge.

“Lay down here,” Yozak patted the bed beside himself. Konrad obediently lay his long body down beside Yozak’s. The orange haired soldier reached out to touch his cheek. “Tell me what’s wrong,” he said.

Konrad closed his eyes as he felt the tears threatening to return in a rush. “I…when you fell, for a moment I thought that you were…” he choked out.

“You thought that I was dead,” Yozak said matter-of-factly. Konrad nodded, biting his lip.

Yozak lightly stroked the side of Konrad’s face with his fingertips. "But I’m not,” he said comfortingly. “I’m alive. It’s all right, my heart. I’m alive, and I’m not going anywhere. I love you.”

His simple words released the flood of tears that Konrad had been trying to hold in. He wept, his body shaking, as Yozak stroked his hair and face, and waited for him to get it all out. Finally, he was cried out, and he lay next to Yozak feeling wrung out by the events of the day and the heavy emotions he’d experienced. Yozak patted his cheek. “There now,” he said. “Do you feel better now, love?”

Konrad nodded carefully, feeling his head beginning to pound from the crying headache forming behind his eyes. He wiped at his swollen eyes, and then moved forward a little to kiss Yozak. “I love you,” he said with all of the intensity he felt in the aftermath of that terrible moment when he’d been sure that he’d lost this man forever.

Yozak smiled. Despite the pain in his battered body, he felt pretty good right now. He ran a possessive hand down Konrad’s jaw, looking at the lovely, flushed, tear-swollen face of the man he loved more than his own life. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, and Konrad blinked at him. He’d never been called that before, by anyone. His brother Wolfram was beautiful, and Gwendel was amazingly handsome. He’d always thought of himself as rather the plain one in the family, not that he was disturbed by this fact. But he could see in Yozak’s steady, flame-blue eyes that he did think that his fiancé was beautiful. And that made him actually feel so. 

Yozak drew in a soft breath, as Konrad’s eyes began to shine with a light that made them even more gorgeous. “Damn, baby, what you do to me,” he said, as Konrad turned his head a little to kiss the palm of the big hand resting near his cheek.

Konrad could have happily spent the rest of the day where he was, but he knew that there was something that had to be done. Something that would be acutely painful for his beloved, but there was no choice. He sighed as he pushed himself up. “I have to go get something,” he told Yozak. “I’ll be back.”

Yozak gave a slight nod. He watched Konrad leave the room, and closed his eyes wearily. He wished that he could sleep, but his arm was throbbing, and his back and legs were a mass of dull aches. But he dozed until he heard the door open again, and Konrad walked in carrying a metal basin. He opened his eyes to watch as his fiancé carried these items over to the bed. “What is that?” he croaked.

This is warmed oil,” Konrad replied, holding up the basin a little. “I’m going to have to give you a massage so that you’re muscles won’t stiffen, Yozak. I’m sorry.”

Yozak winced. He knew why this had to be done; if his bruised muscles were allowed to stiffen, he wouldn’t be able to move for weeks. They might miss their rendezvous with Cheri-sama’s yacht if that happened, and they’d have to take a different route home that might add weeks or even months to their travel time. Moreover, he didn’t really want to be chained to this bed for weeks on end. But this was going to hurt like hell. Oh well; he’d just have to grin and bear it. “Do it,” he told Konrad resignedly.

The soldier nodded. He walked over to the bed, and set the basin of oil down on the quilt. Then he removed his own tunic and shirt, and carefully crawled onto the bed and straddled Yozak’s hips and thighs before reaching for the basin. “One of my dreams coming true,” he heard Yozak mutter in disgruntlement, “And I can’t even enjoy it.” He laughed softly. “I’ll just have to make it up to you later,” he told his betrothed gently.

“I’ll hold you to that,” Yozak replied, as cheerfully as he could. 

Konrad dipped his hands into the basin, and rubbed them together to coat them with the oil. Then he leaned forward, and put his hands on Yozak’s shoulders, beginning to massage the muscles with strong circular motions of his hands. Yozak tried to contain his moans of pain, but some of them actually escaped. Each one made Konrad feel worse, but he knew that he had to continue. He dug the heels of his hands into the muscles, trying to get them to relax. It was worse that the skin was bruised, as well, and so was tender to the touch. Both of them were sweating by the time that he finished with Yozak’s shoulders, and began to move downward. 

Yozak gritted his teeth. He knew that he’d have to get used to this, since Konrad would have to do this at least three times a day for the next few days until the muscles healed a bit. But he’d never had the world’s highest pain tolerance, unlike Konrad. He’s seen his fiancé stoically endure things that would have reduced him to a screaming wreck. His shoulders throbbed sullenly, and the sharper pain in his mid-back where Konrad was still massaging the muscles made him want to scream. He finally bit his own hand to stop the pained noises that kept trying to escape. He knew that tender-hearted Konrad might be tempted to stop what he was doing if Yozak seemed in enough pain, despite the fact that this was necessary. The pain of his teeth breaking his skin helped to center him, and he went on enduring, as Konrad methodically worked his way down his back and legs.

It was hard to say which of them were more relieved when it was finally over. Konrad lifted his hands from Yozak’s calves with a sigh, and Yozak gasped out a shuddering breath, as he released his bloodied hand from his mouth. He dropped his head to the quilt and grimaced. His back felt like it was on fire. Konrad could see that he was in agony, and he got to his feet determinedly. “I’ll be back, Yozak,” he said, and left without saying another word. Yozak was in too much pain to really care where he’d gone. Dully he closed his eyes, and tried to continue enduring the throbbing pain in his back and legs. 

Konrad returned twenty minutes later. By then, the throbbing had become less bad, but a dull, steady pain continued. Konrad hurried in with a clay bottle in his hand. Yozak peered up at him, with eyes gone dull from constant pain. Konrad pulled the stopper from the bottle and sat down on the side of the bed. “You have to drink this, Yozak,” he urged his beloved.

“W-what?” Yozak was too weary to care at this moment.

“I found a shop that sold pain-killing herbs,” Konrad said.

The flame-blue eyes brightened and sharpened at these words. “Have I told you lately that I love you?” he said fervently as Konrad leaned over to help him drink the bitter tasting stuff in the bottle.

“No more than three swallows,” Konrad warned, pulling the bottle away.

“No problem,” choked Yozak, grimacing at the vile taste of the stuff.

Konrad re-stoppered the bottle and set it on a small table. Then he sat back down on the side of the bed and began to stroke Yozak’s orange hair tenderly. “It should take effect soon,” he said. “If it works well, I’ll just give you the stuff beforehand when I have to massage your back.”

“That’d be good,” Yozak murmured. They were both silent for a short time, until Yozak gave a small cry of relief and pleasure “Oh, Shinou, it works,” he gasped, as the pain began to fade away. With the relaxation caused by the fading of the pain came a terrible need to sleep, and he closed his eyes and slipped into a deep sleep with a soft sigh. Konrad smiled in relieved pleasure as Yozak began to snore lightly. “Sleep well, my love,” he said to the slumbering man, leaning over to softly kiss his cheek.

He got up and carried the basin back to the kitchen to return it to the landlord. Then he went to Wolfram and Yuri’s room to check on the Maou. Wolfram stirred a bit when he opened the door, and opened large, rather muzzy emeralds eyes to peer at him. He had removed his own clothes as well as Yuri’s, and had worked a blanket up over them. His head rested on Yuri’s shoulder as he blinked up at his brother sleepily. “Go back to sleep, Wolfram,” Konrad said gently.

His brother nodded a little. “How’s Yozak?” he asked softly. 

“Sleeping,” Konrad told him. 

Wolfram’s eyes fluttered closed. “That’s good,” he murmured before he fell asleep again.

Konrad left the two boys to their rest. He went back to he and Yozak’s room. He yawned as he walked through the door. It wasn’t a lack of sleep making him feel tired, any more than it had been with Wolfram. It was the tail end of emotional distress that was tiring him out physically. He slowly took off his clothes, his fingers fumbling from weariness and small cramps caused by the intense massage that he’d given Yozak. He laid them on the table next to the bottle that contained the pain killing mixture. Then he stripped the other bed of its blankets, rather than trying to pull the ones out from under Yozak. He covered Yozak tenderly with only one light blanket, since it was a warm summer day. Then he carefully crawled onto the bed next to Yozak once again, trying not to jar him or move the bed. 

He closed his eyes as he listened to the re-assuring sound of Yozak’s deep breathing. He reached out a hand to touch Yozak’s shoulder, taking comfort from the warm skin under his fingertips. Already he was growing used to having Yozak sleeping next to him in bed. He wanted nothing more than to wake up beside Yozak for the rest of his life. :Thank you, Shinou: he prayed. :Thank you for not taking him away from me: With this grateful little prayer, he sank down into sleep. His dreams were all of a certain orange-haired soldier, and his peacefully sleeping face had a small smile on its lips.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yozak's feeling much better, but he still has a 'pain' that he wants Konrad to attend to!

Four days passed. Konrad continued the massages, but now that he could give Yozak the pain-killing mixture before hand, they weren’t the torturous things the first one had been. Yozak slept a lot, regaining his strength, and by the fourth day was feeling so much better that he was complaining about having to lie on his stomach. He never slept on his stomach normally, generally liking to sleep on his side. Konrad was glad to see that he was feeling well enough to carp, and had helped him sit up on the side of the bed this morning. The massages were definitely working, because he was moving easily. The bruises were starting to heal, and looked even worse than before. They were now a mottled yellow-brown color, and Yozak’s back was a ghastly sight. He wore a sling on his healing left arm, but there was more color in his face, and his blue eyes were alert as he watched Konrad move around the room.

There was a knock at the door. “Come,” Konrad said, and the boys entered the room in their usual energetic manner. 

 

“Hey, Yozak, you look better this morning!” Yuri exclaimed, beaming at the orange-haired soldier sitting on the side of the bed.

“Yeah, and I feel better too. What are you two up to?”

“We were going to the weapons shop in town. Wolf wants to look at the knives,” Yuri said.

“So, has that thing done anything yet?” Yozak asked next, pointing at the ring that sat loosely on Yuri’s finger.

The Maou looked doubtfully at the ring. “No, nothing. If it does anything, I haven’t seen it yet.”

“Well, the old man certainly seemed to think it did something,” Wolfram said. "He sure gave it to Konrad fast enough.”

Yozak shrugged a little. “I’m sure we’ll get to see what its abilities are soon enough,” he said.

“Frankly, I’m not sure that I want to see what it does,” Yuri commented. “Especially after Morgif. That thing is just too weird. I’m afraid that this ring is going to do something just as strange,” he shuddered faintly as he looked down at the tarnished old ring again.

“Well, we’ll be able to get going in a few days, and you can take the ring back to Blood Pledge and let Gunter figure out how it works,” Konrad said quietly. “Then we’ll most likely put it down in the vault with Morgif.”

“Great,” Yuri said fervently. “I can’t wait to get rid of this thing. Something about it gives me the creeps.”

“Come on, you wimp,” Wolfram said fondly, catching a hold of Yuri’s elbow. "Let’s get going,” he dragged an amiable Yuri out the door with a nod of farewell to his brother and Yozak. Yuri grinned and waved at them over his shoulder, as he allowed his fiancé to tow him away. The door closed behind the two boys.

 

Yozak was happy to see them go. Now that he was starting to feel better, certain urges were returning with a vengeance. He turned his head to watch his fiancé, as Konrad bent over to retrieve a clean tunic from his back pack, and he eyed that perfectly-shaped ass outlined in the leather of his breeches. He felt his cock stir to life under the leather of his own breeches, which was the only piece of clothing that he was wearing right now. A wicked grin slid over his mouth, as his blue eyes narrowed and became calculating. 

“Konrad,” he said in a rather pained tone of voice.

Konrad instantly straightened up and turned toward him, his brown eyes concerned. “What is it, Yozak?” he asked anxiously.

Somehow Yozak contained his snicker. He lowered his eyes so that Konrad couldn’t read them. “I have a pain,” he said, which was true. His groin was throbbing now, and the confining leather of his breeches was turning it into a painful experience. But he couldn’t get out of them one-handed. He’d need ‘help’. 

“Where?” Konrad asked, hurrying over to him. “Do you need me to get Yuri? Or do you need more pain killer?”

“It’s bad. I’ll definitely need to ‘take’ something for it,” Yozak said, his lips twitching as his eyes gleamed wickedly. “Let me show you where it is,” he added as Konrad half-bent over him. He reached up and caught hold of one of Konrad’s hands, pulling it down into his lap so that the soldier could feel the bulge under the doeskin.

Konrad’s breath left him in a gasp. A combined feeling of lust, relief, exasperation and annoyance ran through him. Here he’d worried that there was something really wrong with Yozak, and he was just feeling horny…which, he thought dizzily, was an excellent sign of recovery. Yozak pulled a little more, until Konrad’s face was level with his. Then he leaned forward a little and kissed Konrad deeply, pushing his tongue into his fiancé’s mouth aggressively. Konrad moaned softly in the back of his throat, as he instantly became rock-hard under his own breeches. The last four days of worry and deprivation had been hard on him. Eagerly he responded, tangling his tongue with Yozak’s.

He was panting and flushed by the time Yozak lazily raised his head away from his mouth. “So,” the orange-haired soldier said softly, his eyes burning, “Do you think you can do anything for my pain, baby?”

“I’m sure I can,” Konrad replied in such a sultry tone that it nearly made Yozak groan. He let his hands drift toward Yozak’s crotch, even as he gave his fiancé a lust-filled, half-lidded look. 

His slender fingers settled over the bulge once more, but he didn’t unlace the breeches right away. Instead, he teasingly stroked over the leather, causing Yozak to give a choked moan in the back of his throat, as his head went back a bit. “Oh, Shinou,” he gasped, bracing his good arm on the bed so that he could push his hips up a little at Konrad in a begging gesture.

Konrad couldn’t continue to tease Yozak. Besides, he was all worked up himself. His fingers fumbling with eagerness, he went to work on the laces of the breeches. He got them undone and yanked them down his hips, as Yozak lifted himself helpfully. He gave a soft cry of relief as his cock was released from its tight confines. Konrad pulled them all the way off, and tossed them away carelessly. He started to return to Yozak’s lap, but a gesture by the orange-haired soldier stopped him. “Take your clothes off for me, love,” he said with a leer.

Konrad felt nearly breathless as he got to his feet and reached for the lacings of his tunic. Slowly he began to undo them, feeling Yozak’s burning gaze on him all the time. His fingers drifted lower, as did his eyelids. His soft pants for breath were a huge turn on for Yozak, who growled softly in appreciation of the show. Konrad finally finished unlacing the tunic, and ever so slowly pulled it off of his shoulders. He dropped it to the floor, running his fingers over his own linen-clad chest towards the hem of the shirt. As his fingers skated over his own stomach, he saw Yozak shudder faintly. He thoroughly enjoyed getting his fiancé this worked up, and he teasingly pulled the tucked in hem out of the waistband of his trousers ever so slowly, revealing tantalizing bits of flesh to his fiancé’s hungry eyes.

Finally, though, he couldn’t go on teasing either himself or Yozak any more. Quickly he finished pulling the shirt over his shoulders, and reached down to nearly yank at the lacings of his breeches. Yozak grinned lustily when he saw Konrad’s control break. He watched his lover worm his way out of his breeches, enjoying this show as much as the previous one. He nearly licked his lips when Konrad stepped out of the breeches, revealing the rest of that beautiful body to his hot gaze. “Come here, baby,” he rasped, and Konrad stepped toward him with his brown eyes aglow with desire.

Yozak reached out his good hand and wrapped it around the long, elegant cock between Konrad’s legs. The soldier gasped and pushed his hips frantically toward Yozak, as the orange-haired soldier lightly ran his fingers down his penis from root to tip. “Please,” gasped Konrad desperately, wanting more friction than this butterfly caress.

Yozak indulged him, closing his hand more tightly over his erection and giving it a long, firm stroke. Konrad moaned helplessly, his legs threatening to buckle at the feel of this caress. “So sexy,” Yozak rasped, watching his beloved’s flushed face and lovely mouth as he panted for breath. His hand continued to move on Konrad’s cock, driving him closer and closer to the edge. “Do you want to come in my hand?” Yozak asked him.

Konrad could barely think. But he still managed to find the strength to shake his head a bit. He took a step nearer as Yozak released him from his hold and moved to straddle Yozak’s lap. He twined his arms around Yozak’s neck, and looked down into his face gravely. “I’m not hurting you, am I?” he asked anxiously.

“There was some pain from the healing bruises, but not enough for Yozak to want to give up the feel of his lover sitting in his lap. He patted Konrad’s ass tenderly. “Don’t worry, love. I can handle a little pain for this.” He said. Before Konrad could protest, he dipped his head a bit, and began to lick one of Konrad’s nipples.

The soldier lost any thoughts of further protest as Yozak’s tongue laved at the tender, rucked skin of his nipple. He arched his back helplessly and moaned, his hips beginning to move a bit. His ass rubbed against Yozak’s erection, causing a soft gasp to be drawn from his lover’s throat as he gently bit at the hardened nub in his mouth. “Shinou, you taste good,” Yozak mumbled against his skin.

Konrad began to move faster, almost gyrating his hips, as Yozak began to bite and lick at the side of his throat. He loved the feel of the solid length of flesh rubbing against his ass, thighs, and balls as he moved. He wanted that inside of him, and as quickly as possible. He was already on fire, needing this act with Yozak as a re-affirmation of life. Yozak was pretty far gone himself, and Konrad’s movements against him were not helping. He felt like his brain was going to explode. He pulled his head away from Konrad’s neck a little. “Konrad,” he groaned. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold out, baby.”

“Then don’t,” Konrad replied, even as he bent his head to kiss Yozak again with all of the pent up love and desire he felt inside of himself. He licked at Yozak’s bottom lip as he lifted his head again. “Take me,” he said simply. “Now.”

Are you sure?” Yozak asked, even as he thrust his hips upward so that his cock slid between the cheeks of Konrad’s ass.

The soldier arched his head back a bit. “Yes,” he half-moaned, leaning forward to rub his chest against Yozak’s. “Please,” he added, grinding his hips down into Yozak’s lap.

“How can I resist when you ask me so nicely?” Yozak gasped. “You’ll have to do all the work here, love. I’m afraid that I’m a bit handicapped right now.”

Konrad withdrew from Yozak’s lap, and padded over to fetch the jar of oil from the small dresser. He walked back toward his lover, his hips swaying a little, and stopped a short way away. He uncorked the jar and dipped his fingers into it in a leisurely fashion. Then, as Yozak watched breathlessly, he lowered his fingers slowly and ran them between his own legs, pushing the tip of one of them inside of himself. He gave a small cry at the sensation, and Yozak huffed out a soft groan at the sight. As Konrad pushed the finger deeper into himself, Yozak wondered vaguely if he was going to survive this experience. Watching his fiancé prepare himself to be taken had to be the single hottest thing that he’d ever witnessed. 

Konrad began to move the finger in-and-out of himself roughly. He wanted to get to the main event, and so wanted to get the preliminaries out of the way as quickly as possible. Recklessly he added a second finger, sawing them within himself. His head flew back at the combination of slight pain and pure pleasure, and he cried out. His hips bucked as he opened himself up. Yozak was entranced, unable to drag his eyes away, and his cock twitched between his legs as pre-cum dripped steadily from the tip. He didn’t dare touch himself at all, because he knew that he’d come the moment he did. 

Konrad was up to three fingers. His cries were getting louder, and his eyes were glazed with lust. He was as ready as he was ever going to be, and he withdrew his fingers with a last sharp cry. He staggered forward, his legs quivering, and hurriedly poured more of the oil onto his fingers. Yozak made a choked sound in the back of his throat, as Konrad briskly oiled up his cock. Then he gasped in relief and pleasure as Konrad straddled his lap once more, this time taking his cock in hand and placing it so that he could begin to sink down onto it. The head breeched his body, and both men groaned at the feel.

Konrad wasn’t interested in taking time to adjust. He gritted his teeth and sat down hard, burying his lover to the hilt inside of him in one thrust. Panting gasps of mingled pain and pleasure were torn from his throat as he sat still for a moment, his head hanging. His fingers clutched at Yozak’s shoulders. The orange-haired soldier’s face was twisted, as he fought the orgasm that was trying to rise out of him at the feel of Konrad’s tight internal muscles clasping around him. It was so good! It took all of the will he possessed not to just thrust upward into that warm, tight space and come at once. 

At last Konrad began to move over him. He lifted and lowered himself a bit, then did it again. Slowly but surely he worked himself up to a steady pace, surging in Yozak’s lap. This position made it seem as though his prostate were being stimulated almost continuously, and his nails dug into Yozak’s shoulders as he threw his head back and screamed his pleasure into the still room. The pain of his nails breaking skin helped the orange-haired soldier to delay his orgasm, as a hiss of mingled pain and pleasure broke from his mouth. He closed his eyes, feeling his stomach muscles tightening nearly unbearably. Soon, nothing he did would stop the inevitable.

Fortunately for him, Konrad too was nearing his end. One hand dropped from Yozak’s shoulders and took a hold of his own cock, and he stroked himself in time with his plunges down into Yozak’s lap. “Y-Yozak!” he nearly wailed as he rode his lover hard. “I-I’m going to!” and then he screamed one last time as he came, his semen spurting out of him to splash onto Yozak’s stomach and thighs. His fiancé joined him a moment later, his hips jerking as he came within Konrad’s body. He groaned out his beloved’s name in a low, hoarse voice.

Konrad half-collapsed against Yozak, trying not to put too much weight on him. His shoulders and chest heaved as he fought for breath. “I think I’m dead,” he dimly heard Yozak say under him. “But what a way to go!”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wlofram and Yuri discover just what the Maou's ring does.

Yuri followed Wolfram down the hallway towards the door. He found himself staring at Wolfram’s ass, something he’d been doing a lot lately. It was weird to think that only a week ago he hadn’t been the least bit interested in sex, but now that he and Wolfram were together(at every opportunity possible), it was all that he thought about. And Wolfram was the same way; they were two young, healthy boys, after all, and now that their libidos were geared up they coupled often and frenziedly.

Yuri swallowed drool as he watched Wolfram’s hips swaying. He was already hard and ready in his own breeches. He lunged forward and threw his arms around Wolfram, who gasped a little in surprise. “Wolf,” he growled in his fiancé’s ear, licking at the outer shell. He rubbed himself against Wolfram’s back, causing the blonde Prince to moan.

“Yuri,” Wolfram gasped, his body reacting to Yuri’s touch and caress. 

“Let’s go back to our room,” Yuri breathed into Wolfram’s ear, running a hand down his chest as he pushed his groin against the blonde boy’s ass.

“Okkayy,” Wolfram replied readily, all thoughts of leaving the Inn forgotten. He turned and grabbed Yuri’s hand, pulling him quickly back down the hall toward their room.

They went through the door kissing each other frantically. Yuri had only enough thought processes left to close and lock the door behind him, before he became distracted by Wolfram licking the side of his neck. He tilted his head back to allow him better access, even as his fingers fumbled at the laces on the front of the blonde Prince’s tunic. They peeled the clothes off of each other at break-neck speed, having gotten in a lot of practice at it in the last few days. As each piece of clothing fell away, they interspersed their undressing efforts with caresses, bites and licks at the newly exposed skin of their partner.

Wolfram impatiently pushed off Yuri’s breeches and took his cock in hand. The Maou moaned as his slender fingers began to caress along its length, and Wolfram’s emerald eyes smiled at him as he drank in the sight of the look of pleasure on Yuri’s face. “Wolllff,” Yuri groaned out as Wolfram’s thumb swept over the sensitive tip to gather up a drop of pre-cum.

“You feel so good, Yuri,” Wolfram said throatily, his eyes going half-lidded. His lover cried out, and arched his hips up toward him.

Just when Yuri thought that it couldn’t get any better, Wolfram suddenly knelt down and leaned forward. His pink tongue darted out to lave the tip of Yuri’s erection, causing the Maou to shudder. His fingers tangled in Wolfram’s blonde locks as the Prince rather awkwardly engulfed him and began to suck. They’d both had a little practice at this over the last few days, but neither of them was truly skilled at it yet. But, Yuri thought distantly, it still felt damn good. Wolfram’s sweet, warm mouth took him in, and he had to fight not to push all of himself into that enclosing space. He’d done that the first time that Wolfram had attempted this, and nearly choked his fiancé.

Wolfram adored the sounds that he drew from his Yuri’s throat. His slim hands stroked Yuri’s thighs caressingly, as he took in as much of Yuri into his mouth as he could. He could feel the muscles trembling under his fingers. His lover was going to come at any moment. He withdrew with a last lick at the tip, making Yuri give forth a disappointed moan. He got to his feet and kissed Yuri, pushing his tongue into Yuri’s mouth so that his lover could taste himself faintly in Wolfram’s mouth. Yuri’s hands slid down his back and kneaded his buttocks as he pulled Wolf up against himself so that their erections ground together.

Wolfram threw back his head and moaned, as Yuri bent his head to lick his way down his chest to one of the pale pink nipples. He loved to have his nipples sucked, and sometimes it felt like he was going to come just from the feel of Yuri’s tongue on the sensitive buds. He arched his back a little, his hands on Yuri’s shoulders. He panted desperately for breath as one of Yuri’s hands lifted so that he could attend to the other nipple with his fingers. The other one slid down his stomach to curl around his slender cock lovingly, his fingertips moving softly over it before he closed his hand more firmly on it and stroked it.

Wolfram cried out loudly as the duel sensations. “Yuri!” he nearly screamed as he pushed his hips into Yuri’s caressing hand. 

Wolfram desperately pushed Yuri away from him. He was going to come at any moment, and he wanted Yuri inside of him when he did. “Come on, Yuri” he said, taking his fiancé’s hand and dragging him over to one of the beds. He pushed Yuri down on the quilt, descending on top of him so that their chests and groins were aligned. Both boys moaned as Wolfram began to move his hips, rubbing himself against a nearly frenzied Yuri. They began to kiss again, and Wolfram thought dimly about how good they were becoming at this particular art, and how much he loved the feel of Yuri’s tongue in his mouth.

He abandoned his lover momentarily altogether to snatch the jar of oil from the little table. He brought it back and shoved it into Yuri’s hand. Then he turned so that he was straddling Yuri’s hips, giving the Maou his lovely ass. Yuri hurriedly dipped his fingers into the jar and pushed the tip of one into Wolfram, enjoying the moan the blonde boy gave at the feel. As he began to probe into his lover’s tight ass, Yuri’s other hand drifted between his legs and began to stroke his cock again lightly. Wolfram’s arms nearly gave way, and he retaliated by leaning down to lap at the head of Yuri’s erection.

Yuri pushed his finger further into Wolfram, trembling at the feel of the tight space around his finger and the sensation of Wolfram’s tongue on the head of his penis. “Faster, Yuri!” the blonde Prince husked, pushing his hips back at his lover impatiently.

Yuri complied, moving his finger in and out quickly. He added a second finger, and then as third, as swiftly as he could. Wolfram groaned and rolled his hips, taking in Yuri’s slender fingers urgently. Neither of them could take much more, and Wolfram finally turned around so that he was facing Yuri once more. His emerald eyes were dark with lust. The Maou felt like he could barely breathe as he watched Wolfram begin to crawl forward up his body. The blonde Prince reached out to snatch the jar of oil from his hand, sitting up over Yuri’s stomach to pour some of it onto his fingers. Then he reached down without looking away from Yuri and began to stroke the oil onto his lover’s cock. Yuri’s breath huffed out of his chest as he met Wolfram’s darkened green gaze.

Wolfram smiled the sexiest, sultriest smile that Yuri had ever seen. He reached over to set the jar down on the table next to the bed. Then he slid backwards a little, taking Yuri in hand once more. He began to work Yuri into his body, slowly but surely, his mouth opening a little and his eyelids sliding down at the feel. The Maou groaned as he felt Wolfram’s tight internal muscles closing over him, and he reached up his hands to grasp Wolfram’s hips as the Prince pushed down enough to take Yuri to the hilt. His blonde head flew back as he splayed his hands over Yuri’s chest. He moaned sweetly as his partner used his hands to move his hips a little. It always felt so wonderful to have Yuri inside of him. He knew that he’d never get tired of it.

Wolfram began to move. With Yuri’s help, he began to ride the Maou as though he were a horse. Dimly he was glad that he was the one doing the riding, since Yuri was such a terrible horseman. He would have laughed at this thought, if the tip of Yuri’s cock hadn’t prodded his prostate just at that moment. He shrieked instead, his back arching like a bow, as he rode out his pleasure. Yuri stared up at his lover, adoring the sight of the dark pink flush that had spread over Wolfram’s chest, neck and face, and the way his slender white body bowed as he was nearly overwhelmed by ecstasy. He groaned at the sight, feeling his muscles beginning to tighten as he neared his orgasm.

One of Yuri’s hands slid off of Wolfram’s hips to close over his cock once more. He stroked Wolfram in time to the Prince’s plunges over him, and Wolfram came apart over him. “Yuri!” he wailed as he came, his fingers digging into Yuri’s skin as he spurted out over Yuri’s chest and hand. Yuri followed him a moment later, his orgasm ripped from him by the feel of Wolfram’s internal muscles closing over him as they convulsed. He groaned Wolfram’s name loudly, shuddering with the force of his coming.

Wolfram fell forward onto his chest, panting wildly. Yuri feebly closed his arms over his sweat-sheened back, holding him close. The two boys lay still in the aftermath, listening to each other’s frantic breathing and simply enjoying being together. “Yuurrii,” Wolfram said, rubbing his face against his fiancé’s shoulder. “I love you so much.”

“Love you, Wolf,” Yuri replied on a near-groan. Each time they did this it seemed to get better and better. Their sensitized, sweat-slicked skin rubbed together, and even the feel of Wolfram’s semen on his own skin wasn’t so bad. Soon he’d get up and go get cleaned up, but for the moment he felt too languid and sated to want to move.

Neither of them noticed that Yuri had forgotten to take off the weird Maou’s ring from his finger in his eagerness to get with Wolfram. The blonde Prince hadn’t even been aware of the rough feel of the metal against his skin when Yuri caressed him. And they were both so into each other that neither noticed now that the ring had begun to give off a strange, sullen glow. The worn picture on the seal became clear for a moment, and then there was a peculiar popping sound. They both heard this sound, and Wolfram rose up a bit to frown down at Yuri. “Did you hear that, Yuri?” he asked.

“Yeah. What was it?” Yuri asked. Then he looked over Wolfram’s shoulder and gasped, his eyes widening until they seemed to take up most of his face. He gaped at whatever it was he was seeing, and Wolfram craned around to look behind him. What he saw made him gasp as well, and both boys stared at the end of the bed.

Yuri was standing at the end of the bed. It was him down to the last detail, including the fact that he was buck-naked. This other Maou stared at them with a curiously blank expression, that made the hairs stand up on the back of Wolfram’s neck. The twin Yuri said nothing; it merely stood there passively, as though waiting for something. “Yuri!" Wolfram cried in disbelief. “What? But you’re…” if he hadn’t been able to feel the solid body under him, he might have thought that it really WAS Yuri standing at the end of the bed, rather than still lying under him. The copy was that good.

Yuri shook his head as though to try to clear it, and then looked again. He was still standing there at the foot of the bed. “Hello…” he squeaked to himself, but the other Maou didn’t respond.

Wolfram slid off of Yuri. He wished that his sword weren’t with his pile of clothing nearby. Warily he walked toward the other Yuri, his emerald eyes suspicious. His muscles tensed as he drew closer, ready to fight or flee. Yuri rolled off the bed as well. He said to Wolfram anxiously: ‘Maybe you shouldn’t…” but the Prince shook his head. He was determined to find out what was going on, whether they were both hallucinating or not. 

He put out a hand to grab the false Yuri by the shoulder. But he nearly overbalanced, when it closed over nothing but air. He grabbed at the footboard of the bed so that he didn’t fall. “It’s a hologram!” Yuri said, in sudden understanding.

“A what?” Wolfram asked in puzzlement, eyeing the substantial looking Yuri warily. 

“Never mind. Let’s just say it’s kind of like a solid-looking ghost,” Yuri explained. “But what is it doing here? What made it appear?”

“Yuri!” Wolfram cried, pointing a slender finger at the ring on Yuri’s finger. The Maou looked down and yelped, when he saw that the seal on the ring was still glowing faintly. Wildly he looked front the ring to the doppelganger. “I knew it!” he exclaimed. “I knew this thing would do something creepy!”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Yuri doppleganger is driving the real Yuri crazy...

“Man, this thing is really starting to get on my nerves!” Yuri exclaimed in disgust.

Konrad threw him a pitying look. In the two days since the doppelganger Yuri had appeared, Yuri had been getting more and more frustrated. Even though he had removed the Maou’s ring, and hadn’t worn it since (Yozak was carrying it in a pouch at his belt), the thing still hadn’t shown any signs of vanishing. It followed him everywhere, a drifting shadow. And it changed with him. When he put his clothes on, it became clothed, as well. When Konrad put his contact lenses in in the mornings, its eyes were suddenly brown, too.

But the thing that was really driving both Yuri and Wolfram crazy was the fact that they hadn’t been…intimate together since it appeared. The thing’s blank stare was just too creepy for Yuri. They’d start to kiss and caress each other, but he found himself becoming distracted by the hologram Yuri. It was like trying to have sex with a family member in the room, or something. Wolfram was disgruntled, he knew, but he just couldn’t maintain any kind of excitement under that empty stare.

He was utterly happy that Yozak was feeling well enough for them to travel. They were on their way back to the beach to make their rendezvous with Cheri-sama’s yacht. Hopefully either that thing would disappear on its own by the time they got back, or Gunter could tell him how to banish it. He hated the way that it drifted along right behind him all the time. He saw Wolfram glaring at the thing from where he was walking beside him, and felt bad. The blonde Prince was NOT happy about how the weird twin Yuri was cutting into his love life. Not that Yuri could blame him any. He’d finally just discovered the joys of sex, and like any teenage boy he was now horny 24/7. Being unable to do the deed, just because of this wretched hologram of himself, was making him crazy.

Yozak concealed a grin at Yuri’s words. He felt bad for the Maou, of course, but he also found this situation to be rather funny. While, like his fiancé, he was a little worried about why the doppelganger hadn’t disappeared once Yuri took off the ring, at the same time the way that the boys glared at the thing tickled his funny bone. He knew that it wasn’t funny for them, of course, and he also knew that if he were in their shoes he definitely wouldn’t be laughing. But he wasn’t. So he fought his twitching lips, not wanting Yuri to see him, because he knew it would hurt the sensitive boy’s feelings. He put up a hand to conceal his mouth, and saw Konrad shoot him an exasperated look. His fiancé thought that finding humor in this situation was inappropriate. Yozak supposed that it was, but he really couldn’t help himself.

At least it was another beautiful summer day as they walked along the coast road. The sun was warm, the sky was a dazzling blue overhead, and the soft white clouds were piling up intro cloud pictures. Normally Yuri would have walked along with his neck craned, trying to decide what each of them were. But he was too sunk into annoyance and frustration to pay any attention to them now. Not to mention self pity. Both boys were so despondent that Konrad couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. He wished that there was something that he could do, but he had no idea how to get rid of the Yuri doppelganger. 

They finally reached the white sand beach late in the afternoon. Yozak was feeling rather tired, for he still hadn’t recovered fully from his injuries. He sank down into the soft, warm sand to rest. Konrad sat down next to him, and gave him a shoulder to rest his head on. They had no idea when Cheri-sama’s yacht might appear, and they carried food and supplies enough for a few days wait. It was no hardship to sleep on the beach in the summertime, and there was driftwood enough for a fire. Since they were out in the open, and there was no way that he could be with Wolfram anyway, Yuri brightened up a bit and went to play barefoot in the little waves. After a while Wolfram joined him, and the two boys frolicked happily, giggling and splashing each other. Their adult counterparts watched them with fond amusement from the beach.

“Remember when we were like that, Konrad?” Yozak said, as he rested his head on his lover’s shoulder.

“As I remember, I was too serious and dedicated to training to ever play like that,” Konrad replied in gentle amusement. “You were always telling me how boring I was.”

“Well, you were,” Yozak said cheerfully. He turned his head to nudge his nose against Konrad’s shoulder as he gave him a gleaming look out of his flame-blue eyes. “I’ve since found things that you’re DEFINITELY not boring at,” he said slyly.

Konrad’s cheeks turned faintly pink. “I’ll take that as a compliment,” he replied dryly.

“You should. It was meant as one,” Yozak closed his eyes. He was starting to fall asleep; it had been a long two days of traveling. Konrad urged him to lay down with his head in his lap. “Mm, this is nice,” he murmured sleepily. “Love you, baby,” he said before he fell asleep.

Konrad stroked his fingers idly through the sleeping man’s unruly orange hair, as he watched over the boys. This had certainly been an eventful trip, he mused. Not always good at points, but definitely eventful. And there had been some great moments…he smiled tenderly down at the man resting in his lap at this thought. The best of his life. He was looking forward to more of those moments from now on. Hopefully until he was an old, old man, and Yozak’s distinctive hair had turned white with age. He could imagine them, two old men still walking hand-in-hand (although with Yozak, he’d be more likely to still be groping his elderly lover at every chance he got). Now he truly understood how his brother Gwendel had found the courage to propose to Gunter at last, despite his reserved, rather repressed nature. Where love was concerned, anything was possible.

 

They spent a restful night on the beach, and except for the stupid Yuri clone, the Maou was thoroughly enjoying himself. Even Wolfram had perked up, and the two boys spent the morning building a huge sand castle, as Yuri taught his fiancé about one of the joys of his childhood. Even Yozak lent a hand to this project (his right of course, since the left was still in a sling). They were still hard at work on it in the early afternoon, when Konrad’s sharp eyes spotted the white sail of his mother’s yacht on the horizon. Reluctantly the boys deserted their glorious sand edifice, grumbling a little at Cheri-sama’s usual bad timing. Konrad made sure that all of their supplies were re-packed as they waited for the ship to draw nearer. 

Finally, a small boat was launched from the yacht to retrieve them. Wolfram sighed. He hated journeys by sea, and with good reason. He never seemed to get over his seasickness, and he knew that he’d spend the rest of the trip on his mother’s yacht barfing over the rail. Yuri shot him a sympathetic look, and took his hand. He conjured up a smile for his fiancé, thinking that at least he’d have Yuri to rub his back and worry about him while he was being sick. That was more than he’d ever had before on a sea journey.

Cheri-sama herself was sitting in the boat, and she waved a greeting to them all as it touched down on the sand. She leapt out of the boat, wearing a tight red leather cat suit with discreet patches cut out here and there. “Hello, everyone!” she chirped as she strode across the sand. “How did it go? Did you find that Maou’s ring that you were looking for…” she broke off when she spotted the Yuri doppelganger standing near the Maou, with a blank look on its face. "What’s that?” she asked, pointing at it.

“That, Mother, is the direct result of us being successful in our quest,” Konrad replied dryly. “Apparently, it's one of the things that this ring can do. It appeared three days ago, and we haven’t been able to get rid of it since.”

“Hmm,” Cheri-sama tapped her lips a little as she considered the thing. “Strange. I’ll have to study it on the way home.” Her attention span was never very long, and having come to that decision, she lost interest in the Yuri clone and went over to embrace the real Yuri and a disgruntled Wolfram. “Oh, my boys!" she said, as Yuri tried not to choke to death on the clouds of perfume wafting from her soft, voluptuous body. Her green eyes, so like Wolfram’s, studied the two of them closely. A small smile slid over her red-painted mouth. “I see that you two had fun on this trip,” she said with a wink worthy of Yozak. 

Both of them blushed, as Wolfram cried “Mother!” in exasperation.

Cheri-sama only laughed, as she whirled around to go and hug her gentle middle son instead. “Konrad,” she said affectionately, then stopped and peered at him, as well. Her blonde brows shot up, as she got a good look at her son’s face. Konrad could feel a faint blush heating his cheeks as well under his mother’s laser-sharp stare. “Mother,” he said, to forestall any embarrassing questions from her. “I have to tell you that I’m getting married.”

Cheri stared at him in disbelief. Then she squealed loud enough to be heard back at the last human village. “That’s wonderful! Who’s the lucky girl, my son?”

Yozak raised a hand, a huge grin on his face. “That would be me, My Lady,” he said cheerfully.

Cheri’s jaw dropped. “Yozak?!” she exclaimed. “Is this true, Konrad?”

“Yes, Mother,” he replied with a wince. But to his surprise, his mother only laughed and clapped her hands together. “Well, this is a surprise, but a good one!” she said as she enveloped a rather startled Yozak in a careful hug. “So you’ll be my son-by-marriage, eh? You take good care of my Konrad, Yozak Grie, or you’ll answer to me.”

“I’ll try my best, My Lady,” he replied as gravely as it was possible for him to get.

“I know you will. You’ve always been a good boy,” she patted a bemused Yozak’s cheek, and said happily: “Well, come along, all of you. I can’t wait to get back to Blood Pledge and meet my new grandson.” 

Having dropped this bomb, she began to walk away towards the boat. “Grandson?” both Konrad and Wolfram nearly yelled, while Yuri blinked and Yozak’s eyebrows shot up. 

She looked over her shoulder at them as she stepped into the boat. “Yes. My sweet Gwendel and his Gunter have decided to adopt a poor little orphan boy whose parents were killed in a border dispute with some humans. You know how good with children Gwennie is, and Gunter somehow managed to raise Gisela by himself. Now I shall have a grandson as well as a daughter,” she replied happily. She had always treated Greta with the affection she would have given a grandchild of her blood, much to Yuri’s joy. “Come on,” she said next, waving a hand impatiently at them all.

They all got aboard, and Wolfram curled up in a corner of the boat and fought his already queasy stomach. Yuri sat next to him, with his doppelganger hovering nearby, and patted Wolfram on the shoulder tenderly. Konrad and Yozak shared the small seat in the middle. Cheri sat near the prow like a stunningly beautiful figurehead, and watched her middle son surreptitiously. Really, this whole thing had come out of left field. But she could see the changes in Konrad already. His brown eyes were free of sadness or shadows, and the way he looked at the orange-haired man sitting next to him almost stole her breath. 'My, my,' she thought in amused satisfaction. 'If I’d known that that was where the winds lay, I would have encouraged Yozak to make a move on my son years ago. I just thought that Konrad only liked girls. I guess it doesn’t matter how old you get, your children can still surprise you.'

 

The voyage back to Mazoku lands was pretty much uneventful. Wolfram spent the entire time being sick, as usual, with Yuri hovering over him like a mother hen with its chick. This amused and delighted Cheri, who felt that the Maou was finally showing her little Wolfie the tenderness and caring that her boy deserved from his fiancé. She herself alternated between sunning on the deck in a miniscule bathing suit, and studying the Yuri doppelganger, which still showed no signs of going away. Her magical probes couldn’t discover the nature of the thing, and she was frankly puzzled by it.

Wolfram was so happy to see dry land again, that he stumbled off the yacht onto the dock on Yuri’s arm, and promptly fell to his knees to kiss it(after he threw up on it, that is). Konrad, Yozak and Cheri got off the ship at a more decorous pace, and all of them heard a familiar light voice hailing them. “Heika! It’s so good to have you home,” Gunter exclaimed as he slid off of his horse and went to embrace Yuri. Gwendel got off his own horse more slowly, and came over to greet his brothers. Now that he was married to Gunter, he was no longer jealous of his husband’s attentions to the Maou. 

Konrad grasped his forearm. "We heard from Mother that you and Gunter are adopting a child,” Konrad said with a bright smile. "That’s great news, brother.”

Gwendel returned his smile with one of his own. There was pride and satisfaction in his smile. “Yes. You’ll all get to meet Huon when we get home.” He said easily. He looked at Yozak. “What happened to your arm?” he asked.

“That’s a long story,” Konrad replied. “We'll tell you all about it on the way home.”

Gwendel nodded. “Let’s go collect them,” he said, looking over his shoulder at his husband, who was fawning over Yuri. “Or we’ll never get going.”

Gunter stopped his overly affectionate greeting of the Maou when he saw the Yuri thing hovering close by. “What is that, Heika?” he said, his violet eyes fixed on the doppelganger as he straightened up.

“We found that Maou’s ring,” Yuri replied, “And this is what happened. It’s been with us for almost a week, and it won’t seem to go away. Do you think you can figure out how to make it leave, Gunter?” he asked hopefully.

The advisor stared at the Yuri thing with a frown on his face. He’d studied some of the ancient histories and lore abut the ring, but he didn’t remember anything about it doing this “I don’t know, Heika,” he replied absent-mindedly. “I’ll have to study this phenomenon more closely,” and he walked over close to the doppelganger, and stared at it intently.

Cheri whirled over to embrace a resigned Gwendel. “How handsome you look, my son!” she cried. “Married life suits you. Now that I’ll be the mother of three married sons, I’m going to feel positively ancient…” she said with a giggle.

Gwendel frowned. “THREE married sons?” He repeated.

She nodded happily. “That’s right! My precious Konrad is getting married!” she exclaimed. Her voice was loud enough that she attracted even Günter’s attention, and the silver-haired advisor abandoned the Yuri clone for now, to hear this more interesting news.

Gwendel looked at Konrad with raised brows. “You’re getting married, brother? To whom?” he asked, obviously thinking that the courtship must have been pretty fast, since Konrad had only been gone a little over a week or so.

Konrad sighed. “To Yozak,” he said in resignation, waiting for the outcry.

Gunter’s mouth fell open, much as Cheri’s had. Gwendel blinked once or twice as he assimilated this information. Then he shrugged, and said quietly: “Congratulations,” at Konrad’s look of surprise, he merely smiled and said: “No one thought that I’d marry a man, either,” he pointed out as he snaked an arm around his husband and pulled him close.

A veritable point, Konrad thought. Gunter had recovered from his own shock, and was beaming at the two of them. If they didn’t watch it, he and Cheri would be planning the wedding between them, with no input from the actual people getting married, Konrad thought in alarm. The silver-haired man flowed forward and grasped Yozak’s good hand firmly. “Welcome to the family!” he cried.

“Uhh, thanks,” Yozak said, sounding as though he were reconsidering wanting to join this particular family right at that moment.

“I think we should get going,” Konrad said, trying to get his fiancé off the hook before the man decided to bolt altogether.

Wolfram was happy to mount a horse rather than a ship. He pulled Yuri up behind him, trying not to pay attention to the doppelganger, which hovered nearby in the air. Yozak couldn’t ride by himself with an arm in a sling, so Konrad climbed up behind him to help steer. He put his arms around Yozak’s waist, as the orange-haired soldier murmured, “Just couldn’t wait to get your hands on me, eh?”

“That’s right," Konrad replied serenely. Yozak chuckled softly. 

Gunter spent most of the ride to the Castle chattering away at Yuri, his husband, or Cheri-sama, when he wasn’t staring at the Yuri thing with his silvery brows drawn down in puzzlement. He truly could not understand the existence of the thing, and he wanted to consult the manuscripts and books that spoke of the ring again to see if he could discover what had brought it about and how to get rid of it. The Maou obviously was disturbed by the thing, which Gunter couldn’t blame him for. That blank stare would get on anyone’s nerves after awhile.

Yuri happily slid off the horse to greet his daughter Greta enthusiastically when they rode into the Castle’s courtyard. “Papa Yuri!” she squealed happily as he enveloped her in a tight hug. Then she went to hug Wolfram. “Papa Wolfie!” she said, as Wolfram smiled and kissed her on the cheek. Her eyes got huge as she spotted the Yuri doppelganger. “Who’s that?” she asked, pointing at it. “Why does he look like Papa Yuri?”

“It’s a magical copy of Yuri,” Wolfram explained to her. “A magical ring made it. Gunter’s going to try and find out how to get rid of it.”

“Wow," Greta went over close to the Yuri thing, and put out her hand. She squealed again as her hand passed through the insubstantial body. “It looks just like you, Papa Yuri!”

“I know,” Yuri said in annoyance, glaring at the thing. But as he watched his adopted daughter circle the Yuri thing, he decided that he didn’t care so much about it. He was home, and he still had Wolfram and his beloved daughter. And surely Gunter could find a way to get rid of the Yuri doppelganger. Surely. Right?


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gunter discovers the origins of the ring and what will make the Yuri doppleganger go away...

Everyone was taken with Gwendel and Gunter’s new son, a tiny, adorable blonde boy with huge blue eyes. He was only two-and-a-half, and cute as a button. Cheri dandled her new grandson on her knee, while he played with her long blonde hair curiously. Greta hung on her adopted Grandmother’s other knee, for she liked children and adored her new adopted cousin. Little Huon was fascinated by Konrad’s sword, and kept touching the hilt while Konrad was holding him. Yozak tossed him into the air, causing him to squeal in glee. The orange-haired soldier chuckled as he set the boy on his shoulder. 

“We should get one of these,” he said to Konrad, who smiled. 

 

“Maybe later,” his fiancé replied. Cheri beamed at this banter, for she was hopeful for more grandchildren eventually. 

Huon, released back onto the floor, went straight for Yuri. Most children did. The Maou grinned as he took the boy’s hands and swung him in a circle. Huon giggled, and then squeaked as Wolfram caught him in mid-air and hugged him. Gwendel and Gunter watched happily as their family made much of their new son, secure in the knowledge that Huon would be a well-loved child. It was a great homecoming for Yuri, and for awhile he forgot about the Yuri hologram completely. Everybody else did as well, except for Gunter. The advisor occasionally cast glances at the doppelganger, and his brows drew down in thought every time. He vowed to go through the books and scrolls with a fine-tooth comb until he found some mention of this particular phenomenon. His instincts were clamoring that there was something wrong about that thing. And Gunter always trusted his instincts.

Yuri and Wolfram took Greta and Huon outside to play. Konrad and Yozak went to start moving Yozak’s things into Konrad’s rooms. Cheri wandered off to change her clothes and take a bath. And Gunter touched his husband’s arm and told him: “I need to go to our office, Beloved.”

Gwendel frowned at him. “Why?” 

Gunter shook his head. “There’s something disturbing about that copy of the Maou, Gwendel. I don’t like the look of it at all. I need to go through the books that mention the ring again.”

Gwendel nodded. He trusted Gunter’s instincts, as well. He took Gunter’s arm, and the two men walked to Gwendel’s office, which was now Gunter’s, also. They’d moved in another desk and set it next to Gwendel’s, so that the two men could work together. Although frankly, they often didn’t get much work done when they were alone together in the office. But the desks did come in handy anyway, especially the tops…

Gunter went immediately to the bookshelf against the far wall, and began to pull down the relevant texts. Gwendel accepted a stack of them himself, and sat down at his desk to begin reading them. Gunter plopped down at his own desk, and opened a thick old tome that described all of the artifacts ever created by past Maous. Both men pored over the volumes, searching for any scrap of information about this unusual attribute of the Maou’s ring. Silence fell in the room, except for the occasional rustle of paper, the deeper swish of vellum, or a sigh from Gunter as he rubbed at his eyes. Reading the faded writing on the yellowing vellum often made them ache.

An hour later, Gwendel was reading a passage about Morgif in a desultory fashion when he heard his husband gasp in horror. He looked up hurriedly, seeing that Gunter’s face had gone rather pale. As he watched in concern, a light-pink blush began to spread over Gunter’s lovely features, and he clapped a hand to his face as his nose began to bleed. Gwendel’s eyebrows shot up. “What’s the matter, Günter?” he asked.

“Oh, oh, this is too awful,” Gunter whispered from behind his hand. His eyes were wide, and Gwendel’s worry deepened when he saw the depth of horror in them.

“What is it? Is that thing dangerous?” Gwendel demanded, getting to his feet to go shake some answers from the shocked Gunter, if necessary.

“Yes and no,” Günter replied. “But it’s not that thing that…” he shuddered. “It's how it was created…and what I’m going to have to tell Yuri to do to make it go away,” he closed his eyes in exquisite pain.

“What are you talking about?” Gwendel demanded. His patience was gone. Gunter opened his eyes again, looked straight at his husband, and told him. Gwendel felt horror rise up in himself as well, and he’d gone rather pale as he sat slowly back down in his chair. He made a choked sound in the back of his throat.

“Oh, Shinou,” he groaned, putting a hand over his eyes.

“I told you so,” Gunter said glumly. “We’re going to have to discuss the Maou’s…sex life with him,” he continued, bringing the horror out into the open. It was hard to say which of them was looking forward to this less, since Gwendel SO did not want to discuss his baby brother’s sex life, and Gunter had always been sensitive about the Maou’s ‘purity’. This was going to be very, very bad.

 

Huon was worn out from playing. The two boys put him to bed, and then took Greta with them to their room so that they could unpack. The girl jumped gleefully on their huge bed as they did so, while the Yuri thing stood silently nearby, staring blankly at nothing. They were interrupted by a knock at their door. Wolfram went to answer it, and greeted Konrad and Yozak. Yuri waved to them as he laid the tunics out on the bed. He’d changed back into his black Maou’s uniform, and Wolfram was wearing his standard blue uniform again, also. “Boy, that Huon’s a cute kid,” Yuri remarked as the two men came into the room.

“Yes, he is, Heika,” Konrad agreed with a gentle smile.

“I think that we should adopt a boy next time, Wolf,” Yuri added to his fiancé. The blonde Prince nodded. 

“Hey!” protested Greta from the bed. “I want a little sister, Papa Yuri! Boys are no fun!”

“Do you say that because you can’t play ‘dress up’ with a boy, Greta?” Yuri asked. She nodded.

“Well, you can always play dress up with Uncle Yozak, Greta,” Wolfram said slyly. “He likes to wear girl’s clothes.” 

Much to Konrad’s delight, his fiancé began to turn a shade of red that clashed horribly with his orange hair. "Uhh…” he said, as Greta squealed, jumped off the bed, and ran over to hug his legs. “Can we, Uncle Yozak?!” she cried, looking up at him with pleading eyes.

Yozak could no more resist those eyes than he could Konrad’s. “All right,” he said in resignation.

“Goodie!" she cried, dancing around happily. “And we can have a tea party, too!”

Everyone but Yozak burst into laughter at this statement. Yuri howled, falling back on the bed clutching his stomach. Wolfram was doubled over, gasping for breath. Konrad couldn’t help himself, and he threw his head back and laughed heartily at the expression on his beloved’s face. Yozak looked like he’d swallowed a particularly nasty sort of bug. Yozak couldn’t remain disconcerted for long, and he grinned and shrugged as he watched his fiancé laugh. It was good to see Konrad so uninhibitedly merry.

Gwendel and Gunter stood in the open doorway and stared at the sight of Yuri, Wolfram, Greta and Konrad laughing loudly, while Yozak stood with his arms crossed nearby and chuckled at their mirth. Astonished, Gunter wondered what had caused this loss of dignity. He wished heartily that he didn’t have to be the one to bring it to a halt, but he had to discuss what he’d discovered with both the Maou and Wolfram. Much as he really, REALLY didn’t want to. The news he brought was very important.

Gwendel finally cleared his throat. The sound rumbled over the others, attracting their attention. Yuri sat up and knuckled tears out of his eyes, Wolfram straightened up, and Konrad looked over to see his brother and his brother’s husband standing in the doorway. Yozak turned around in a leisurely fashion to greet the two men. “I hate to break up this party,” Gwendel said seriously, “But we have something we need to tell you all.” His eyes went to Greta. “Could I ask you to go and play with Anissina, Little One? Please?” he asked gravely, as though he were speaking to an adult. Greta responded well to this kind of treatment, as she always had.

“All right, Uncle Gwendel,” she said, skittering out the door past the two men with a gamin grin for them both.

“What is it?” Yuri asked urgently, sliding off the bed. “What’s the matter, Gunter, Gwendel?”

“Heika,” Gunter said rather faintly. “We’ve discovered something about that…thing,” he said, waving a hand at the Yuri clone.

“Really?” Yuri brightened up immediately. 

Wolfram looked at his brother hopefully. “Have you discovered a way to get rid of it?” He demanded.

“Uhhh…yes,” Gwendel replied. To the fascination of everybody in the room, Gwendel turned a dull red and looked flustered. He glanced desperately at his husband, his sapphire eyes pleading for help.

Gunter took all of his courage in hand. “I discovered what created the thing in the first place, Heika,” he began. "I found an old book that speaks about when the ring was first made by the fifth Maou. He intended it to be a ring that could conjure life-like illusions, which could be used on the battlefield to fool enemies. And it worked. The ring did just as it was supposed to. But there was a peculiar side effect, one that made the Maou abandon wearing the ring, and made him lock it up permanently in the vault. Over time, it got lost as so many of our artifacts have. It is this peculiar side effect that we are dealing with now…” he continued, glancing at the Yuri doppelganger while a blush rose in his face until he was light pink from neck to forehead.

“What do you mean?” Yuri asked curiously. He and Wolfram exchanged puzzled glances, while Konrad’s eyebrows shot up to see Gunter blushing so deeply, and Yozak tilted his head to stare at the advisor interestedly.

“Ummm…errr…” Gunter seemed to be having trouble speaking. “T-the Maou didn’t discover this side effect until he f-forgot to take the ring off one night after he’d been testing its abilities. H-he w-was…errr…INTIMATE with his lady wife while wearing the ring, and was surprised to see a copy of himself appear in the room afterward. A-apparently the ring had used the…s-s-sexual energy generated by the Maou’s relations with his wife to create the copy. It seems that o-only that form of energy i-is responsible for making one of these copies appear…” he trailed off, losing the ability to speak for a moment in his utter, horrified embarrassment. 

Yuri stared at him. When he realized just what he’d said, he also blushed a bright red. He could barely look at poor Wolfram, who was a shade of pink that could almost be described as neon. Konrad blinked at this bit of information, and then shot a look at Yozak, who was grinning behind his hand. His fiancé’s flame-blue eyes gleamed, and Konrad had to look away again hurriedly lest he burst out laughing and hurt Yuri and Wolfram’s feelings. He decided to be practical, since it appeared that there was no other way that this horribly embarrassing impasse would come to an end otherwise. “So there is a way to get rid of it, Gunter?” he asked calmly. His tone seemed to steady the poor advisor.

“Yes,” he said in a voice that only shook a little. “The Maou studied the copy of himself to try to find a way to get rid of it, but nothing seemed to work. Worse, the thing seemed to get more solid over time, and take on a life of its own. What he did not realize was that since the thing had been created by his s-sexual energy, it was feeding off of his continued…errr…relations with his wife, and becoming more real over time. Eventually, it had fed enough that it became a separate being. The real problem was that it was basically mindless, driven only by one imperative. Remember, it had been created by s-sexual energy in the first place. It had only one drive, and that was to find more of that energy to feed off of. In essence, it became a kind of incubus. And it didn’t care about whether its victims were willing or not…”

Yuri was so horrified by these words that he forgot his embarrassment entirely. “Are you saying that it…raped people, Gunter?” He said in horror.

The advisor nodded grimly. “The Maou finally managed to capture and chain up the thing, and it was then that he discovered what had given it life and what was feeding it. He and his other magical users finally found a way to get rid of it, but he decided that the ring was too dangerous. That’s why he had it locked up. The thing is, Heika…the way they finally got rid of it was to deny it the energy that it was using to survive. In other words…” his eyes darted to Wolfram and then back to Yuri’s face. “To get rid of this, you must also deny it the energy it needs.” He said flatly.

It took Yuri a second to understand. Then he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, as Wolfram made an awful sound in the back of his throat. “You mean that I can’t…that Wolf and I can’t…for how long?!” he demanded rather shrilly of Gunter.

The advisor shook his head. “I don’t know, Heika. Eventually, the thing will disappear. But I have no idea how long that might be,” there was compassion in Günter’s voice.

Yuri’s stomach had now sunk all the way to his toes. He couldn’t believe this. The last five days of deprivation had been bad enough. But now it appeared that he and Wolfram wouldn’t be able to have sex for who knew how long…he glared at the Yuri doppelganger furiously. This was so unfair! He could see that Wolfram looked like he wanted to cry. He wanted to go hug his fiancé, but he hesitated to do so. Who knew what kind of touch could fuel that Yuri thing, maybe making it hang around even longer?

“H-Heika,” Gunter continued after a moment’s silence. “I h-have to tell you that any form of s-s-sexual energy from you could potentially feed this thing. That mean that you can’t…umm…ahh…d-do anything to yourself, either…” he said this last in such a faint tone that Konrad wondered if he were going to pass out. The soldier glanced compassionately at poor Yuri, who’d gone rather pale at these words.

Yuri wanted to cry now, too. For a teenage boy who’d finally discovered the pleasures of sex, this was a nightmare. Nothing, absolutely nothing…pure celibacy, for who knew how long. His stomach was trying to burrow through the stone under his feet.

“Yuri,” Wolfram said dully. The Maou turned to look at his fiancé, who looked sick. “I-I’ll have to move back into my own room, Yuri,” Wolfram said. Yuri stared at him in shock. Of course. There was no way that he and Wolfram could share a bed all night, every night, without one or both of them finally cracking. Even the presence of the weird, creepy Yuri thing might not be enough to stop him if he’d gone without for long enough. 

Tears prickled at the backs of his eyes as he whispered: “Wolf,” sadly. This just could not be happening…the Gods hated him, that was all there was to it…

Even Yozak had stopped laughing, and was looking pityingly at the two boys. This situation was pretty bad. Having finally gotten his own wish, he couldn’t imagine having to be separated from Konrad for who knew how long, forced into celibacy by some stupid magical ring. He knew that he’d be wanting to tear his hair out right at this moment. Poor, poor Yuri and Wolfram…


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue: Yuri finally gets his wish, when the doppleganger vanishes. And Konrad and Yozak get married. If you like this story, there could be a sequel to it in the future if enough of you ask for it. It would be about a mysterious boy who comes to Blood Pledge looking for Konrad, and a dangerous enemy looking to get revenge on Gwendel. Let me know if that sounds like something you'd want to read - DL Well, so far only one person has said they want to read the sequel, so I guess I won't be putting it up. Too bad.

Yuri had never really thought much about the concept of Hell before. But now he was intimately acquainted with what it was like, because he was living in it. Moodily he stood on one of the parapets of Blood Pledge, torturing himself by looking down at the courtyard below where Wolfram was sparring with Konrad while Yozak watched. Except for breakfast every day, this was the only sight of his fiancé that he’d had for almost three weeks. He and Wolfram were deliberately avoiding each other, because it was far more torturous to be around one another when you could barely touch each other than it was to just stay away. 

Yuri sighed miserably as he rested his head against one of the crenellations. There were only two things that had kept him from going insane altogether - Huon and Greta. If he hadn’t had the children to dote on, fuss over, and play with, he knew he’d be stark, raving mad by now. He turned his head a bit to glare that the Yuri thing, which still hovered nearby. He had come, over the last few weeks, to believe that it would never disappear. That he’d spend the rest of his life being followed by the hologram, doomed to never have sex ever again. And doomed to never be able to touch his fiancé, either. Wolfram would probably give up on the whole concept of marrying Yuri after a few years of this. 'I’m doomed,':Yuri thought in acute depression. He closed his eyes, and spent a few minutes pretending that the Yuri thing wasn’t there. 

It was a nice pretending. He could almost see himself opening his eyes to find that it had gone as though it had never been. That it just faded away into nothing, unable to sustain itself without the sexual energy it needed. He almost smiled at the vision. It was so much nicer than reality...he reluctantly opened his eyes at last, to face the truth – that the Yuri clone wasn’t going anywhere. He looked at it – and his black eyes widened until they took up most of his face. The space that the Yuri thing had occupied for almost a month was empty.

It took him a moment to accept what he was seeing. Or not seeing, that was. Then the Maou let out a whoop of glee, throwing his arms into the air in a cheering gesture. “Yes!” he screamed to the skies, before he took to his heels faster than some sprinters.

 

Konrad wished that he could do something to cheer his brother up. Both Yuri and Wolfram were terribly depressed, not that the soldier could blame either of them. He felt rather bad that he and Yozak continued to have such a vigorous sex life, while the Maou and his brother suffered under their imposed celibacy. Not that feeling bad was going to stop him from actually doing the deed, however. While he pitied the two boys, that didn’t give him the urge to join them in their suffering. And he knew that even if he’d been willing, Yozak definitely wouldn’t be. And his fiancé knew many, many ways to break his control, so that he doubted that any resolution of his to join the boys in their self-imposed celibacy would have lasted more than a few hours, anyway.

He parried Wolfram’s rather wild swing easily. His brother had never had much control, and when he was upset like this he tended to lose all that he had. But for once, he didn’t lecture Wolfram, or hit back at him to teach him a lesson about remaining in control of himself while fighting. The blonde prince had been pushed nearly to his limits, and his nerves were frazzled. His emerald eyes looked haunted, and he obviously hadn’t been sleeping well. Konrad hoped to wear him out enough so that he might sleep a bit better tonight. 

Yozak stood with folded arms, watching his fiancée spar with his younger brother. While he wasn’t as tender-hearted as Konrad, Yozak felt a deep pity for the two boys. This whole situation sucked righteously. He could see the strain it had put on both the Maou and the Prince, and he prayed silently to Shinou for both their sakes that this whole thing came to an end soon. He wasn’t sure how much longer that either of them could take this. He became aware of a clatter of running feet on the flagstones of the courtyard, and turned his head to see Yuri dashing out of one of the archways like someone had set his ass on fire.

It took no more than a moment for Yozak to see why the boy was in such a hurry. His sharp eyes saw no sign of the Yuri doppelganger anywhere. Yozak grinned widely, as the Maou sprinted across the courtyard towards his fiancé. His flame-blue eyes twinkled. 'Go get him, kid,' he thought in satisfaction.

Konrad became aware of a black streak to his left, and stopped with his blade half-raised. He turned his head to see Yuri rush by him, and then Wolfram cried out as he was nearly bowled over by the arrival of his fiancé. His blade clattered to the flagstone, forgotten. Yuri staggered a little as he nearly ran into his beloved, but he recovered quickly. He threw his arms around a startled Wolfram, and kissed him with all the ferocity of almost a month’s deprivation. Wolfram squeaked in the back of his throat, even as he wound his arms around Yuri in return, and gave back as good as he got. Neither of them were even aware that Konrad existed anymore, and the soldier smiled gently as he sheathed his sword. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned his head to see Yozak beaming at the busy couple. The two men exchanged pleased, satisfied looks, as the Maou tried to meld himself and the blonde Prince into one being. 

When they finally pulled apart, it was only for a lack of air. Both boys panted desperately. Then Yuri grabbed Wolfram’s hand, and spoke the only coherent words that he’d be able to get out for the next few hours: “We’re going to our room,” he informed Konrad and Yozak. “Don’t disturb us for about a week, okay?” and he dragged his dazed, wildly happy fiancé off by the hand, while the two men watched them and Yozak chuckled softly to himself.

Konrad felt a pair of strong arms slid around him as Yozak’s chin came to rest on his shoulder. “Good for them,” his fiancé said. He nodded. Then Yozak turned his head and ran his tongue down the side of Konrad’s neck, making him shiver. “What do you say, love?” he said in a lusty tone of voice that made Konrad’s body tighten. “Shall we go and celebrate, too? I can’t wait to show you my victory dance,” he rubbed his chest against Konrad’s back, smiling wickedly at the sounds he drew from his lover’s throat. 

“I think a celebration is in order, yes,” Konrad husked in agreement.

“Great,” Yozak took his beloved’s arm, and the two men hurried back into the Castle almost as fast as Yuri and Wolfram had. 

 

Epilogue: One Month Later

“This is nice,” Yuri said to Wolfram as he sipped carefully at the mulled wine in his goblet. 

His fiancé nodded. They stood near the small buffet table, watching as the newly-married Konrad and Yozak circulated among the small group of people who’d come to the wedding. This was nothing like the crush at Gwendel and Gunter’s wedding, which was one of the reasons Yuri liked it so much better. He wished wistfully that he and Wolfram’s wedding, which would take place in the spring, could be like this. Just a few close friends and family members as guests, along with a large group of soldiers. No nobles, so no posturing or jockeying for position. Konrad’s Uncle Von Stoffel hadn’t even come to the wedding, for which everyone was grateful. The fawning, ineffectual man was hard to take, and all of his nephews loathed him.

The Mazoku nobility had seen no reason to attend the wedding of two half-human soldiers, even if one of them WAS the son of a former Maou. This had amused Konrad more than anything else. While he’d chosen to live as a Mazoku, he had never forgotten his human origins. Nor had Yozak, who didn’t care for a lot of the Mazoku nobility, anyway. Those who had attended their wedding were their real friends, and everyone else could go hang. Huber had come, but then he had a child with a human wife and had traveled in human lands for a long time. He didn’t look down on humans as so many of the Mazoku nobility did. Not anymore, anyway. 

Yuri could see Yozak pulling at the collar of the formal uniform Konrad had made him wear. It was either that, his fiancé had said slyly, or he could always wear a wedding gown. He was familiar with women’s clothes, after all, and comfortable about wearing them. Yozak had turned faintly red and glared at him, but he’d given in and worn the hideously uncomfortable uniform. 'Bet he wishes he’s just worn the dress right now,' Yuri thought with a snicker into his goblet.

Points had to be given to Cheri-sama, who was just as proud at this son’s wedding as she had been at the other. But then, Cheri loved all of her sons equally. She played the proud Mama happily, flirting with some of the more handsome soldiers outrageously. When Wolfram had tried to lecture her earlier about how mere soldiers weren’t good enough for her, she’d turned a jaundiced eye on her blonde son, and pointed out that since his older brother was marrying a common soldier today, she saw nothing wrong with flirting with ‘mere soldiers’. Yuri had tried not to laugh as Wolfram had turned pink with embarrassment at the reminder that Yozak was as common as they came.

Greta was playing nearby with Huon. Gwendel and Gunter were walking arm and arm through the small crowd, both keeping one eye on their little son. Gisela was having a drinking contest with Anissina, and it was a toss-up as to who was going to win. There was a relaxed atmosphere at this little reception, and Yuri was enjoying himself. “Wish we could have wedding like this,” he muttered to Wolfram.

The blonde prince gave him an understanding look. “I agree, Yuri, but you know that’s not going to happen,” he said firmly but compassionately. "Practically everyone in the Kingdom’s going to want to come and see their Maou get married, and they’ll have a huge celebration in town. And everyone who’s anyone will be here for the wedding. It can’t be helped,” he added with a shrug.

“I don’t suppose that you’d elope with me?” Yuri asked hopefully.

Wolfram sighed. “I’d love to, Yuri, you know that. I’m not looking forward to the circus any more than you are. But I’m afraid that that isn’t possible. Besides, would you deny your people a day of celebration? They get few enough as it is.”

“You’re right, Wolf,” Yuri conceded. “I can handle it,” he smiled dazzlingly at his fiancé. “As long as I get to marry you, everything else is standable,” he said happily.

Wolfram’s emerald eyes began to glow. He leaned forward and kissed Yuri on the mouth. "I feel the same way, Yuri,” he said softly. “I love you with all my heart.”

The Maou set the goblet carefully on the buffet table, before he turned and pulled his fiancé close for a longer, lustier kiss. “And I love you with everything that I am, Wolf,” he replied in the Prince’s ear, when they’d finally pulled apart enough to breathe.

 

“Look at those two,” Yozak whispered in his husband’s ear. Konrad looked where he indicated, seeing Wolfram and Yuri kissing each other near the buffet table. “Kids, eh? Naughty little brats, doing that in public,” his hand drifted down to cup Konrad’s ass as he said this, making his husband jump a little. 

“Yes, and they have such good examples of propriety,” Konrad replied sarcastically. 

Yozak chuckled. “I never said that I was a good boy, love,” he said. “In fact” he lowered his voice even more as he purred into Konrad’s ear: “Exactly the opposite. I’m very, very naughty. Want to go be naughty with me?” his hand slid around Konrad’s waist as he nuzzled his ear.

“Are you suggesting that we ditch our own wedding reception?” his husband said mock-disapprovingly.

“Why not? We have a good precedent. Your brother and Gunter did the same thing at their wedding.”

“That’s a good point,” Konrad gasped as Yozak’s tongue ran over the shell of his ear. “A very good point,” he added as Yozak’s hands began to wander over his body. “Come on,” he grabbed Yozak’s arm, and the two men followed Gwendel and Günter’s good example, deserting their guests without a qualm. 

 

The End


End file.
